


More Than Meets the Eye

by Sachiel21



Category: RWBY
Genre: Drama, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-11 07:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 47,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7882519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sachiel21/pseuds/Sachiel21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang Xiao Long is young and beautiful, the most popular girl in school. Is her life as perfect as it seems? Blake Belladonna is the mysterious new girl in town, and she wants nothing more than a fresh start. Can she overcome the demons from her past? High School AU (but not your typical one) & Bumbleby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New School Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I'm back with another story, a High School AU (I know it's not very original). It's my take on the Bumbleby ship if Blake and Yang were real people with flaws and back stories. I was going to write a Road Trip AU but I realized that I have no idea what it's like to take a long road trip, and I wouldn't be able to bring any life experience to the story. _But_... I do remember what it was like to be in high school and have a crush on a cute blonde lab partner…

**Yang Xiao Long**

_Tap. Tap. Tap._ Yang Xiao Long tapped her pencil against the margin of a notebook in a steady rhythm, trying to pass the time. Biology was so boring, why did they have to learn the stages of meiosis anyways? Yang glanced up at her friend Weiss, who mouthed the words _"pay attention"_ at her. Weiss and her regiment of studying had been the only reason that Yang hadn't flunked all her science courses last semester.

They had just got back from summer break a couple of weeks ago, and the days of sleeping til noon had taken a toll on Yang's stamina for the long class. 3:20 pm. 3:25 pm. 3:30 pm and the bell finally rang.

"I thought that class would never end!" Yang exclaimed to Weiss as they walked down the hall.

"Oh quit your whining, some parts were… Interesting."

"Yang!" Nora came up behind her and clapped her on the back. "Are you trying out for the volleyball team this year?"

"You know it," Yang assured.

"That's great news," Pyrrha said walking up with Jaune by her side. "With you on the team, I'm sure we can take the cup this year."

"Aw, thanks Pyrrha. Yeah, I still feel bad that I couldn't join last year, but I'll be on the team for this year for sure-"

Yang was interrupted by a pair of loud thundering steps coming down the hallway.

"Yaaang!"

Oh boy, Yang thinks to herself. It's too late to hide as Sun and Neptune stopped short right in front of her.

"Da-da-da-daah!" Sun trumpeted, announcing Neptune's presence. "Neptune has something to ask you."

"Yang, my beautiful sunflower, will you do me the honor of being my date for the graduation dance?" Neptune asked solemnly.

Yang blushed from the sheer ridiculousness of it all. This was the tenth time Neptune asked her since the beginning of the school year, and each time it was getting even more embarrassing.

"Nept, we talked about this. The dance is like months away, and I don't even know if I'm going or not."

"C'mon, you're like the hottest girl in school. Will you please, please go to the dance with me?" Neptune pleaded, effectively dropping the gentlemanly act.

Nora and Pyrrha giggled, while Jaune looked away awkwardly and Weiss shook her head in disdain.

"Still too early to say my friend," Yang said good-naturedly, messing up his blue hair. "Say, since you two are so obsessed about the dance, why don't you guys go together?"

"What?!" Sun said indignantly. "That's crazy talk!"

"Yeah, we are not gay!"

"Sure you're not..." Yang said with a wink. "Anyways I got to go pick up Ruby, see you later!"

As she made her way out towards the front entrance, Yang saw someone new that she hadn't seen before, leaning on the wall outside the door to the principal's office. She had long dark wavy hair, the colour midnight, pale skin, and striking amber coloured eyes. She wore a pitch black hoodie with purple tights and black boots.

They made brief eye contact, fast and fleeting as Yang passed through the hall. _Those eyes_. Yang kind of felt like they went through her. They were so sharp, impassive with a hint of mild amusement after witnessing the debacle with Neptune.

Yang continued to walk but she didn't look away, neither did she. It was like they had entered into some sort of a silent contest, where the first person to look away would be the one to lose. But the contest ended when Principal Ozpin opened the door and called her in.

"Miss Belladonna."

 _Belladonna, what a cool name, ___Yang thought as she walked out the door.

Ruby was waiting by the front entrance playing Pokemon Go on her phone.

"Hey Rubes, how was class today?" Yang asked giving her one of her patented bear hugs.

"Yang, c'mon, you're embarrassing me," Ruby whined as she wriggled away. "And I was just about to catch a Nidoking."

"What? You're getting too cool for big sister hugs?"

"Yes," Ruby answered, eyes still glued to the screen.

Lately her sister had been going through an "emo" phase, dying the tips of her hair red and dressing in mostly black with red accents.

"Fine, but you're just going to get extra cuddles later," Yang said walking to where her motorcycle was parked. The vehicle was painted in deep yellow and black, Yang fondly referred to it as Bumblebee.

"Gee, I'm so scared," Ruby said sarcastically, putting on her red helmet.

"You should be." Yang smiled mischievously, violet eyes glinting in the late afternoon sun. She revved the loud engine and took off for home.  


* * *

**Blake Belladonna**

Principal Ozpin took a sip of his coffee as he studied the student sitting across from him. Blake Belladonna stared back indifferently at him with her hands in her pockets.

"So Miss Belladonna, I have reviewed your transcripts from your previous school, your grades have ranged from above average to excellent, and your teachers have written mostly positive comments about your disposition. The only criticism was a lack of participation in classroom discussions. Overall, it appears that you have performed consistently through the majority of your high school career… Up until the last term"

Blake glanced away at the mention of the "last term," an action that did not go unnoticed.

Principal Ozpin pushed back his spectacles. "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I believe your transfer to Beacon will go quite smoothly provided that you continue to make the right choices."

Blake didn't need to be a mind reader to read between the lines; _Stay out of trouble,_ is what he meant.

"Do you have any questions?"

Blake shook her head.

"Good."

Blake walked along the sidewalk back to the house idly, getting distracted by the red and yellow leaves on the ground. The seasons didn't really change in Los Angeles where she was from, perpetually in mild summer temperatures. Los Angeles. That was home, not this place, not Portland.

Blake wasn't used to the chill in the air when she arrived on a military transport plane a few days ago. Tukson quickly supplied the funds to purchase warmer clothing. She supposed he was a nice enough man, kind enough to take her in from the foster home on the thin basis that he knew her parents long ago… And because she was in trouble.

Blake shook the thought from her head and continued to walk toward the place where she was staying. She knew she would be alone when she got there. Tukson was a military man, and he would be away on missions for long stretches of time which suited Blake just fine. She was adept at taking care of herself.

Her real parents died when she was four, or so she was told. Blake was an orphan for as long as she could remember, a child of the "system." She couldn't wait for the day that she would turn 18 and be free. Free from the system, free from strangers, free from the past. The prospect excited her. Perhaps this year could be a new start for her after all.  


* * *

**Yang Xiao Long**

"So what do you want for dinner?" Yang asked as she took off her helmet.

"Mac and cheese with hot dogs!"

"You always pick that."

"It's good!"

"Haha, have it your way, but one of these days we'll have to eat something healthy for a change."

When she walked through the door to their apartment, she saw her dad sitting up in the arm chair but completely passed out. Yang sighed. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight, ever since Summer passed away… Ruby exchanged a worried glance with Yang but said nothing as she put her back pack away.

Yang gently shook her father's arm. "Dad? Come on, let's get you to your room." She could smell the alcohol wafting off his breath.

Taiyang's blue eyes slowly opened, and he stared blearily at Yang for a moment, looking slightly confused until he finally recognized his daughter. "Yang. Heh I must have lost track of time, I was just resting my eyes. I've been so tired lately."

"I know. Here, I'll help you up."

"Thanks sunshine, you're a good kid, you know that?"

Yang rolled her eyes at the compliment. "I know. Dinner will be in the fridge later."

"Oh, what are we having?"

"Macaroni and hot dogs," Yang replied unexcitedly.

"Sounds delicious," he murmured.

"Yeah, yeah…"


	2. Awkward Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really surprised to get such a response after the very first chapter, thanks for having faith in me as a writer! I have some ambitions for this fic, twists and turns, light and dark moments, I hope I can achieve them all and make a good story in the process.

Second period, 9:30 am. Yang was in her least favourite class; Grade 12 Chemistry. It was assigned seating and there was an odd number of students in the class. With her surname being Xiao Long, she was the last entry on the attendance list and had been seated at a table by herself while the other students were in pairs.

Yang lamented her fate to Weiss on several occasions, asking her why she had to be so smart and take Grade 12 Chemistry ahead of everyone else so she could take more electives in her senior year. The chemistry labs were complicated enough, and even more difficult without a partner.

Yang had just sat down and was gearing up for another frustrating class, when the teacher suddenly announced that a new student was joining them. Yang looked up and saw the mysterious dark haired girl from the other day, standing at the front. The teacher gestured to Yang's table, and she glanced in her direction, her golden eyes locking with hers for a moment.

Yang offered her a small smile as she sat down on the seat beside her, a smile quite a bit shier than the confident ones she usually sported. There was something about this girl that intrigued her. Maybe it was the eyes, maybe it was her "don't mess with me" expression, maybe it was all the black she wore. Yang didn't know what it was, just knew that she wanted to get to know her better.

"Hi, I'm Yang," she said, sticking out her hand.

Blake looked at her hand for a moment before taking it. Her palm was much warmer than hers. "Blake."

Yang smiled wider. "That's a cool name, it really suits you. Are you new in town? I don't think I've seen you around here before."

Instead of responding, Blake gestured her pencil to the front of the room where the teacher was clearing his throat and looking at Yang with an annoyed expression. _Oops_. Yang immediately stopped talking, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

Blake let out a silent sigh of relief that the class was starting, glad that she didn't have to answer Yang's questions on the spot. She never really liked small talk or talking about herself to new people.

As the lecture went on, Blake occasionally glanced over to the side to regard her new lab partner. The first thing she noticed was that she was _really_ blonde. Her hair was an almost blinding shade of gold. Yang looked like she belonged on the cover of Teen Vogue rather than a dreary chemistry class. Her eyes were an interesting shade of amethyst, and much kinder than Blake expected from someone so good looking.

Girls who looked like that at her old school were high up on the social hierarchy and often cruel to people who didn't fit in with the aesthetic image of their cliques. Even Blake had her own run-ins with the high school "royalty" just because she was a little different. It didn't bother her though, most of the time she was able to shut them up with a well-placed sarcastic comment.

Blake wasn't sure what to think about Yang. She was definitely popular. That blue-haired boy was practically begging her to be his date to the dance. Although she seemed like a nice person, Blake wondered if she was just another airhead blonde-haired girl who got by on her looks. Time would tell, Blake supposed.

Throughout the class, Yang chewed on the eraser end of her pencil, trying to keep up with the notes but finding it hard to pay attention. She was thinking about what she should say next to Blake. So far she only got her name, and that wasn't enough, not by a long shot. _What to say, what to say…_ Yang thought about it over and over, her eyebrows pinched in concentration, chew marks forming on the pencil. Before she knew it, the bell had rung marking the end of class, this was her chance.

"So Blake, why don't you tell me-"

But when Yang looked up, the raven-haired girl had already got up from the table a few seconds ago and walked away.

"-more about yourself…" Yang said quietly, finishing the sentence to herself.  


* * *

For the next few days, they continued on like that, clumsy attempts at conversation from Yang and polite one word responses from Blake. Yang was wondering if they were even getting along in the first place, she felt like she was coming up against a brick wall each time she tried talking to Blake. Maybe she didn't want to be friends, maybe she didn't want anyone new in her life, maybe she just wanted space. Yang got that. She had felt like that at times in the past.

So she decided to give Blake her space. They worked well enough together with minimal communication anyways. On lab days, Blake's hands were efficient and quick at setting up the equipment and measuring out the chemicals and Yang admired them from across the bench.

Blake had also noticed a change in the blonde as the week went along. She wasn't trying as hard to talk to her and they had settled into a quiet rhythm of working together which Blake appreciated. The only downside in her mind was there was a hint of a "kicked puppy" expression in Yang's eyes when she looked at her. Blake felt slightly bad about being the cause of it, although she wasn't sure why. She enjoyed the quiet, and wasn't normally a talkative person, was there something wrong with that?

Still, on Friday when they were having in-class study period and Yang was abnormally focused the same part of the page for the last 15 minutes, brows creased deeply in concentration, with her bottom lip pinched between her teeth, Blake felt the need to say something.

"Having trouble?"

Yang jolted upright, surprised Blake was the one starting a conversation for once. She smiled brightly, eyes squinting up at the corners.

"Heh yeah, I just can't seem visualize the bond configurations. This vsepr theory is way over my head."

"Hm, I had trouble too at first, then I found it easier to draw them." Blake opened her notebook and Yang scooted closer.

"When it's 2 bonds and no lone pairs, it's a linear configuration, like this." Blake drew a straight line between the symbols. "When it's 4 bonds with one lone pair, it's a trigonal pyramidal." Blake drew a pyramid shape.

Honestly Yang still didn't get it, but with Blake explaining it in her smooth monotone voice, it made her happy all the same.

"Thanks Blake, I think I'm slowly starting to get it," Yang said gratefully.

"You're welcome."

Yang noticed another drawing on the previous page, it was a sketch of a man's back and a rose in the corner. "Cool sketch," she remarked.

Blake closed her notebook quickly. "It's nothing, just a doodle."

"Wow, bond configurations and roses, is there anything you can't draw?" Yang asked.

At that comment, Blake let out a soft chuckle, the corner of her mouth curling up into a half-smile. Yang smiled too. Maybe they could be friends after all.


	3. Complication

It was an average weekday afternoon. Blake collected the mail from the mailbox and walked through the door, flipping through the various envelopes when she saw one addressed to the legal guardian of Blake Belladonna. She opened it up, and gave the contents a quick read before stomping to the living room and angrily handing the letter to Tukson who was watching TV on the couch. Confused, he looked at the letter and frowned.

"Why do I have to testify? I already gave a statement," Blake said.

Tukson let out a deep breath through his nose, deep in thought for a moment. "You were one of the key witnesses, I think his lawyer wants to rattle you on the stand, hoping that the charges won't stick."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" _I can't face him again._

"Sorry, I wish there was," he said in his low gruff voice. He saw a worried frown appear on Blake's face. "Listen, there's no use worrying about it now. The trial date is months away, we'll just go down to LA for a day and it will be over before you know it."

Blake grit her teeth together and stormed off to her room, slamming the door. _Easy for you to say._

* * *

The next morning during class break, Blake was at her usual spot at the library reading her novel. It was the only place in the school where she could get some peace and quiet. The common area and hallways were far too crowded and noisy for her tastes.

Blake was getting to the best part of the story, the denouement where the truth comes out, but she didn't feel the same excitement that she usually felt. She kept on thinking about the letter and how she would have to testify at Adam's trial. Why couldn't the past just leave her alone? Blake kept turning those thoughts over and over in her head, not noticing that a certain blonde had crept over until the book was suddenly snatched from her hands.

Blake's eyes widened. "Yang!"

The librarian looked sternly in their direction, and Blake nodded apologetically.

"Hehe, got you," Yang laughed, handing back the book.

Blake put the novel back in her bag. "What are you doing here? I didn't think the library was your usual hang-out."

Yang got a bit more serious. "I just noticed that you always go here by yourself at break, I thought maybe you'd want to hang out with me and my friends today."

Yang's perceptiveness surprised her, but she was still feeling defiant. "And why would you think that?"

"I dunno, isn't it kind of lonely to read on your own every day?…"

 _So what if it is?_ "I'm not your pet project, Yang," Blake huffed under her breath.

 _Shit_. She must have said that out loud because Yang looked hurt, like actually hurt. Blake berated herself in her head; _She was just trying to be nice, what is wrong with me?_

Yang was about to turn away but Blake grabbed her arm.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that…" She took a deep breath. "I'm just stressed out right now."

"Oh, how come?" Yang asked timidly.

Blake shrugged. "Midterms, I guess."

"Yeah they can be a killer," Yang acknowledged, relaxing a bit.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"…I'd be happy to meet your friends, if you still want me to," Blake offered.

Yang's face lit up. "Of course!"

There was another stern look from the librarian but Yang didn't care.

* * *

"Nora's kind of crazy, but she's a really good friend, she always throws the best parties. Pyrrha is like the best athlete in school, she's also really cool, we train together a lot. Weiss is one of my best friends, super smart, she already has so many scholarships lined-up and she's really nice after you get to know her," Yang rambled as they walked down the hall.

Blake gave her a slightly nervous smile, and wondered how a girl could have so much energy. They walked closer to a group of three girls standing by the window. There was an orangey red head with aqua coloured eyes, a tall scarlet red head with emerald coloured eyes, and a petite girl with very light platinum blonde hair, almost white in colour, and ice blue eyes. There was something familiar about her…

"Hey guys this is Blake, my savior in chem class, probably the only reason I'm still passing."

Blake rolled her eyes at Yang. "Hi."

"Blake, this is Nora, Pyrrha, and-"

"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Mining company," Blake said suddenly.

Weiss looked surprised and slightly proud. "So you've heard of me."

"You could say that..."

The Schnee Mining company employed a lot of the people in Blake's neighborhood when she was growing up. The paltry wages they were given were the main reason that the families were in the low income category. Back-breaking labour and poor safety practices resulted in many of them being injured and put on disability. The injustice of it all rubbed Blake the wrong way. All for what? So this girl could have another tiara in her hair and another thousand dollar dress?

Weiss, as if sensing the disdain in Blake's intense gaze, squared her shoulders and stood up straighter, trying to gain a couple inches. "So Blake, where are you from? It's a bit odd for a student to transfer to a new school in their final year, isn't it?"

Blake narrowed her eyes and was about to respond with something snide, but Yang interjected.

"Whoa, whoa Weiss, what's up with the third degree?" Yang chuckled nervously, trying to diffuse the situation.

Luckily cool, calm, level-headed Pyrrha was there too. "It's nice to meet you Blake, how are you enjoying Beacon so far?"

"I like it a lot actually. The library has an extensive collection of books."

"How did I guess that you'd say the library," Yang said, smiling and playfully poking Blake in the ribs.

Blake couldn't help but smirk back at the blonde as well. Something about her personality was infectious.

The bell rang out signaling the end of break and the start of the next class.

"Whelp, gotta get to chemistry class," Yang said

"It was nice meeting all of you." _Well almost all of you_ , Blake thought.

"By-ye Blake!" Nora said in a loud voice.

* * *

"Now it says to pour the lead nitrate slowly into the potassium iodide solution," Blake said, reading from the lab manual.

"Slowly, got it."

Yang poured it slowly, and the clear solution in the beaker became a beautifully vibrant yellow colour.

"Cool…" Yang said with a childlike wonderment. "Hey Blake, check this out."

As she turned to face her partner, Yang's elbow bumped the beaker off the stir plate and it fell over on the bench, splashing some of the brightly coloured yellow contents on to Blake's black T-shirt. _Oh man_ , Yang thought as Blake glared at her crossly.

* * *

"Yang, please. You don't have to wait for me, I can get changed on my own." Blake said behind the bathroom stall door. She pulled off her shirt that was splattered with the lead iodide.

Yang had her back to the stall door on the other side, standing guard. "Of course I do, Blake. It's my klutziness that ruined your shirt, and the lab manual said that stuff is pretty toxic." Yang glanced behind her and saw some skin and shuffling through the quarter inch of space next to the door. She quickly turned back, blushing a bit.

"It's not like I ingested it," Blake said irritably.

Blake pulled on the spare gym shirt that Yang had loaned her. It was slightly loose on her but most importantly, it was clean. Blake gave it a sniff, it smelled like Tide laundry detergent with a hint of the citrus body spray Yang always wore. The scent was familiar to her after sitting beside the blonde for the past few weeks in class… She didn't mind it.

Yang turned around when she heard the door open, seeing Blake looking shyly at her with her chin angled down a bit.

"Looks good on you…"

The shirt was the one she wore while warming up for volleyball games and it had her name on it. Seeing Blake wearing it made her feel happy for some odd reason.

"Uh, thanks," Blake said, looking to the side, and away from the warm expression in Yang's eyes. It made her feel… Blake didn't know how to describe it. It was kind of like butterflies but in her chest instead of her stomach.

They looked at each other for a long drawn out moment, not knowing what to say next.

Yang started fiddling with her fingers, eventually starting, "Say, um, after the game on Thursday, do you want to, um…" She swiped a hand through her hair. "Do you want to study for the test together? I need all the help I can get," she said, laughing nervously.

Blake stared back at Yang for a moment with an unreadable expression before answering, "Sure."

Yang let out a quick sigh of relief and couldn't help but grin. She felt like she had just won something and had to restrain herself from celebrating.

* * *

Later, when she got home from school, Blake dropped her book bag on the floor and plopped on to her bed. It had been a really long day. She just lay there for a while, watching the afternoon light lengthen the shadows across the ceiling.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the letter from the previous day still on her night stand. In a flash of frustration, Blake sat up and quickly stuffed it into the drawer. She lay back down and pulled the front of Yang's shirt over her nose, breathing deeply the scent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will have more Yang.


	4. Routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a heavy chapter.

Yang lay comfortably on top of Weiss' lavish bed, balancing a pencil on her nose while Ruby and Weiss were sitting together at her large mahogany desk, working on some math problems.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you have to distribute the variables first before doing the operations!"

"Well if you weren't yelling all the time, maybe I would have paid more attention."

"Ruby Rose, you are insufferable."

Yang couldn't help but smirk at their bickering, it was just too funny. She had talked Weiss into tutoring her sister in math on weekends, something that Weiss had instantly regretted after the first session ended in a yelling match. Weiss was too rigid and Ruby was too ADD. Fortunately, they started to get along better when Weiss could see that Ruby was willing to put the effort in to improve her marks. Yang only had to step in once in while… Like now.

"Hey!" Yang said sitting up. "Weiss try to be more understanding that Ruby's not the best at this."

Ruby flashed a "told you so" glance at Weiss, looking triumphant.

But, Yang continued on. "Ruby, listen to Weiss. Algebra is definitely not my thing so Weiss is all you got."

Ruby pouted a little after that.

After saying her piece, Yang lay back down on the bed and continued to balance the pencil on her nose, ignoring the books that were open and laid out beside her.

"Why are you so relaxed? Don't you have a chemistry test next week?" Weiss asked.

Yang rolled on to her stomach, and grinned. "Blake's going to help me study after the game."

Weiss huffed a little. "Oh, you mean your anti-social lab partner?"

"She's not anti-social," Yang said defensively. "She's just…"

Yang tried to think of words to describe Blake. _Smart? Kind? Mysterious? Sarcastic?_

"Blake's just… Different. It must be hard changing schools in senior year. She helped me understand all those weird bond shapes and she didn't freak out on me when I spilled bright yellow chemical all over her." Yang let out a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "She doesn't talk much but man those eyes… I feel like they could tell a story all on their own..."

"Ooo sounds like someone has a crush!" Ruby said in a sing-song voice.

"Shut up," Yang said, throwing a pillow at her sister's face. "It is not a crush. I just think she's a cool person."

She rolled on to her side with her back to them, and started to think about the real reason she gravitated to Blake. There was something melancholy about the way she carried herself. She had a maturity way beyond her years, like she had seen or done too much, which was odd considering her young age. Yang could tell that Blake had been through a lot, she had no idea what, but she felt like she could relate to her somehow.

* * *

"And don't forget to brush your teeth!" Yang called to Ruby who was getting ready for bed.

She heard a muffled 'yeah, yeah, yeah" from behind the door of their shared bedroom. The apartment they lived in was tiny, two small bedrooms and a combined kitchen and living room area. There was hardly enough space for their own stuff, let alone Ruby's extensive collection of tools and gadgets.

She was taking a mechanics course in school, building all sorts of neat motorized machines. Her creations were littered around the apartment, on display on the window sills, kitchen counters and coffee table. Ruby even joked one day she'd make a combination sniper rifle death scythe and Yang laughed about how crazy that would be.

Yang took sip of her glass of water and went back to surfing the net on the kitchen computer. She had already checked all her social media sites, nothing too new and exciting there. She was about to type a name into the search engine but stopped herself.

 _Raven Branwen_.

Her biological mother whom she had never met.

Raven and her father Taiyang were high school sweethearts, and they moved in together after they graduated. Raven was in her second year of college studying fine arts, and her dad was in the police academy training to be a police officer when she found out she was pregnant with Yang.

It was an unplanned pregnancy but Taiyang was over the moon, so excited to become a father. Raven's feelings were more subdued, it was all very new to her at the time. She never really gave much thought about babies before the pregnancy, and deep down she wasn't even sure if she actually wanted to have kids. Raven had this idea of what her life was going to be like, to live as an artist and travel the world. She definitely didn't expect having a baby at such a young age.

Nine months passed, and she was a new mom to beautiful blonde baby girl. It was supposed to be amazing, it was supposed to be wonderful, but Raven just didn't feel it. Back then they called it the blues, and now the official term is post-partum depression. One month after Yang was born, she left, leaving only a scrap of paper with the word 'S _orry_ ' on it.

Taiyang was heartbroken. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do at the time, taking care of a baby at night while working as a beat cop during the day. His partner on the job was Summer Rose, they had met at the academy, and she was a good friend to him through it all.

Slowly, they started to fall in love. Summer loved Yang like she was her own, and Taiyang adored her for it. They got married a year later, and Ruby was born soon after.

Yang didn't know why she wanted to learn more about the biological mom who was never there for her. Summer was the best mom anyone could have asked for. She was kind and patient, always making time for her and Ruby, whether it was baking cookies, untangling their hair after baths, or reading stories to them. She was always there.

They were so happy as a family…

But after she passed away, her dad shut down emotionally. In one of his drunken ramblings he let slip that every woman he had ever loved had left him in some way. That Summer left him alone like Raven did. And that's how Yang found out her name. She was ten years old at the time.

Seven years later here Yang was. The logical part of her mind telling her that she shouldn't care but her heart telling her that she need answers. Yang had searched for her name on the internet before, but didn't really find anything. She tried almost every night lately. It was obsessive and unhealthy, Yang knew that, but she couldn't stop.

Tired and frustrated, she shut off the computer and went to bed.

* * *

At two am in the morning, Yang was awoken by her cell phone ringing. The call was from an unfamiliar number, and she had half the mind to ignore it but she picked up anyways.

"Hello?" Yang listened to the other person on the line for few moments and then said, "I'll be right there."

Twenty minutes later, Yang pulled up in her motorcycle to the Black Bear night club in downtown Portland. The bouncers knew who she was, so they didn't bother checking her ID. When she walked in, she immediately saw her dad slumped over the bar with his head lying on the table. Yang set her jaw and pressed her lips into a thin line as she walked over.

"Dad?" She nudged him. "Dad, are you awake?"

Taiyang mumbled something nonsensical under his breath and turned his head the other way. _Great_ , Yang thought.

"I'm sorry I had to call you. I tried to cut him off but he wouldn't listen. He's been like this for a while."

It was Junior Xiong, a burly bearded man who was the night club's owner. He knew Taiyang when he was still a beat cop. Back then, he only went to the club to gather information or to arrest people, but now it was his favourite place to get drunk. This wasn't the first time Yang had to pick him up.

She sighed. "Do you have his keys?"

Junior went to the drawer in the back and handed Yang his keys. "I'll help you get him to the car."

With Junior's help, Yang got her dad into the passenger side of the car. Yang slid into the driver's side and buckled him in.

"Really dad? On a Sunday night?" she grumbled as she started the car. Her nerves were frayed, she knew that she would be exhausted in class tomorrow.

Yang managed to get his heavy frame up the steps, and they stumbled through the door of the apartment. Ruby ran into the kitchen to see them, a worried expression on her face.

"Go back to bed," Yang said, struggling to get his shoes off.

"Is dad okay?"

"He's fine."

But right when she said that, Taiyang saw Ruby and suddenly fell to his knees sobbing. "Summer! Oh god Summer, why did you have to leave me?"

Ruby had her mother's auburn hair and silver eyes, she was the spitting image of Summer. Seeing her dad's drunk and sorrowful outburst, Ruby looked like she was on the verge of tears as well.

"Ruby, go back to bed!" Yang grabbed her father by the collar, and shook him. "Stop. Don't. Don't you put this on her!"

She dragged him to his bedroom and shut the door, hearing a few faint sobs as she walked away. Yang went back to Ruby and held her small trembling body.

"Shhh, it's okay, it's okay…" she said softly, stroking her hair.

Ruby was diagnosed with a mild form of anxiety when she was eleven, incidents like these made her anxiety worse. It took another hour for Yang to get Ruby calmed down enough to go to bed again.

When she was sure Ruby was asleep, she crept into her bottom bunk and lay there with her eyes open in the dark, letting the tears fall silently onto her pillow.


	5. The Swings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, it took me a while to work through this chapter. By the way, I've decided to change the names of the places to make it more Real World AU, Menagerie will be Los Angeles and Vale will be Portland now. This is changed in the previous chapters as well.

The next morning, Yang somehow made it out of bed after the alarm went off and managed to get Ruby and herself to school on time. When she walked into chemistry she saw the shirt she had lent Blake neatly folded on her side of the table.

"I washed it," Blake said.

Yang managed a smile, but it lacked the usual luster it usually had.

"Aw, you didn't have…" Yang yawned half way through her sentence. "…To."

Blake noticed that her eyes were red rimmed and dark circled.

"Are you feeling okay? You look tired."

"Was up late watching Netflix," Yang shrugged, putting the shirt away in her backpack. She tried to add a chuckle but it fell flat.

Blake nodded in acceptance and Yang was grateful she didn't push for any details. She was too tired to think of a show that she would actually binge watch. Yang didn't feel good about lying, but she never talked to anyone about her family situation, even Ruby, living it day after day was painful enough.

"So what experiment are we doing today?" Yang asked.

"Titration of sodium hydroxide with hydrochloric acid to produce sodium chloride crystals," Blake read off the lab manual.

"Fun…" Yang said half-heartedly.

Blake set up the burette stand and clamps while Yang went to get the NaOH and HCl solutions. Yang started filling the burette with the HCl solution but she poured it a little too quickly into the funnel and it flowed over the top.

"Shit…" Yang swore quietly to herself.

She scrambled to wipe up the acid with some paper towel, hoping Blake wouldn't notice that she was being klutzy again. Yang managed to look smooth and casual right when Blake looked up from the flask of NaOH.

"Ta-da!" Yang exclaimed.

Suddenly Yang felt a burning sensation on the back of her hand. "Ouch." She quickly peeled off her fingerless glove and rubbed at her skin.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked, reaching for her hand.

"Nothing," Yang said, pulling away.

Blake first looked at the reddish mark blooming on the back of Yang's hand but then she noticed her knuckles. They were crisscrossed with scars, fine light lines that looked shiny in the light. It was at that moment that Blake realized that she had never seen Yang's hands before. She was always wearing a pair of black fingerless gloves regardless of the weather. Blake had assumed that it was just a part of her outfit but now…

"How did you… How did you get those?" Blake asked before she could stop herself.

Yang noticed her looking at her hands and she frowned, but she quickly recovered with a grin. "Hehe, would you believe I used to be in kick boxing? Even entered a few competitions when I was younger."

Blake wasn't convinced. People don't get scars like that in competition with gloves and head gear, only in bare knuckle fights. She didn't like getting lied to and she continued to look Yang in the eye, her gaze unwavering.

Yang shrank a little, realizing the jig was up. "I used to get into fights in middle school when these jerk boys wouldn't stop picking on my little sister Ruby. They never liked losing to a girl, so there were a few more fights after that…" Yang looked down at her hands. "Sorry, I just didn't want you to think that I was too violent or anything… I really was in kick boxing though, it was a lot of fun, and I still practice on the heavy bag once in a while."

Part of Yang wondered why she was even telling Blake all of this. She had this way of making her ramble by just looking at her directly.

"I don't think you're too violent, Yang…" Blake said after a pause. _What a ridiculous thought_. "You can talk to me, you know? About… Whatever… We're partners after all," she mumbled as she looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Yang smiled at her. "Right. Thanks partner!"

* * *

 _We're just going to study for the test nothing more_ , Blake told herself as she slowly walked back to the school. It was Thursday night. They had decided to meet at the gym after the game and then go to her place to study from there.

She walked into the gym, the smell of hardwood and varnish immediately hitting her nose. The entire place gleamed with the bright fluorescent lights reflecting off of the polished hardwood of the gym floor. Blake could already hear the sounds of sneakers squeaking across the floor and the calls of "Mine!" and "Got it!" coming from across the far side of the gym.

There were a lot of people watching on the bleachers, and Blake had to scan the rows for seats. There was one open one, but it was right next to a certain platinum white blonde heiress. They made eye contact, Weiss' blue eyes flickering with recognition and then a silent dare. Blake wasn't one to back down from a challenge. She squared her shoulders and made her way to the only open seat.

"Weiss."

"Blake."

They sat in silence after that, focusing their attention straight ahead at the game in front of them.

Yang noticed Blake as she was rotating positions, and waved at her, a bright smile on her face. Blake waved back hesitantly, feeling Weiss' eyes on her.

"So… Here to cheer on Yang?"

"Hmph, hardly. That girl's ego is inflated enough. Pyrrha and I have to finish our physics project for Monday," Weiss said primly.

Blake nodded, and returned her attention to the game. Yang was up to serve, she tossed the ball high in the air, and executed an overhead jump serve perfectly.

Blake couldn't help but notice how good Yang looked with her normally unruly long hair tied back in a loose ponytail. Her eye was constantly drawn to her. With every movement, her forearms and long legs glistened with a light sheen of sweat, accentuating the strong muscles underneath her smooth skin. Blake sighed. It just wasn't fair that someone could be born _that_ good looking.

It was coming on match point, Yang's team was down by two. The other team was about to score their final point when Yang took a hard dive onto the gym floor to keep the ball in play. Blake heard the loud thud and when Yang didn't get up right away, she found herself standing up, her body acting on its own.

It was so silly, she was probably fine, Blake told herself and eventually Yang pushed herself up, returning to her position with a limp and red mark on her chin. Blake sat back down, feeling foolish and embarrassed. She could feel Weiss watching her with an amused gaze.

"You care about her don't you."

"What? No," Blake said quickly, and a little too harshly than she wanted.

"Right…" Weiss replied, staring ahead.

They went back to watching the game and Blake thought the conversation was over when Weiss suddenly spoke again.

"Yang is my best friend. She gives a lot of herself to other people without asking for anything in return… You better not take advantage of her."

"I… I'm not!" Blake said indignantly. She scowled darkly at the heiress. _Who did she think she was?_ It was just like a Schnee to look down on other people, and make judgments. _She doesn't even know me! I… I'm not a bad person…_ Blake thought uncertainly.

Inordinately ruffled, Blake turned her attention back to the game in time to see the Beacon home team celebrating. They won. Pyrrha scored the match point, executing a perfectly timed spike from a set from Nora. For a moment, all Blake could see was a crush of hugs and high fives, as the winning home team celebrated. Yang pulled Pyrrha into a fierce hug and lifted her high into the air by the hips. Blake felt a twinge of irrational jealousy, but she couldn't blame them. Nothing was sweeter than victory.

Weiss and Blake stayed seated as the spectators slowly trickled out of the gym, each one distracting themselves with their smart phones. When Pyrrha walked out of the locker room, Weiss bid Blake a swift good bye and left with the scarlet haired star athlete. Yang eventually came out of the locker room with her hair slightly damp from the shower. Her eyes lit up when she saw Blake waiting for her.

"Blake, Blake! Did you see it, did you see my save?"

Blake gently tilted Yang's chin with her fingertips. "I see you've gotten yourself a nice gash," she said bluntly. The mark was red and angry looking.

"Psh, it's just a little floor burn, doesn't even hurt."

They were quiet for a moment as Yang lowered her chin and smiled at her.

"Let's get out of here," Yang said, barely containing her excitement.

* * *

It was dark already when they left the gym, the moon was out and the stars were shimmering in the sky. Yang was walking at a fast pace, already a few feet ahead of Blake on the sidewalk.

"Yang, slow down."

The blonde turned around to face Blake and walked backwards instead, smirking all the while. Blake couldn't help but smile back too, Yang was so full of energy, still on an adrenaline high after winning a close game.

She talked non-stop, an endless, out-loud stream of thought of whatever popped into her mind.

"Did you see the shot that Pyrrha landed, oh man, that set from Nora was perfect!"

"Yeah," Blake agreed quietly.

"I love volleyball, I played it ever since elementary school. But I gotta say, back then my favourite game was kickball. Did you have any favourite games?"

Blake shrugged. "Not really."

"Aw man, even kickball? You're no fun," Yang said playfully.

"I guess not," Blake said with a small chuckle.

They continued walking and passed by a small playground in a park. Yang looked at it contemplatively for a moment and then suddenly veered off towards it.

"Yang! Where are you going?"

"C'mon Blake it'll be fun!"

Yang leaped on to the worn rubber pad of the swing feet first, and propelled herself forward as she held on to the chains. She hadn't been on a swing in years. When she was a child, she used to swing so high that it felt like she could touch the sky. It surprised her that she could still have that same feeling.

Blake caught up to her in her own measured pace. Unlike Yang, she didn't feel the need to take off like a wild man toward an ordinary looking playground. Blake sat on the other swing but stayed still, content to watch the blonde as she swung higher and higher into the air.

They were supposed to be studying for the chemistry test. Blake knew that much, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Yang to stop, not when her eyes were so bright and happy. The other day when Yang claimed she was up late watching Netflix, she saw a deep-seated sadness in her eyes that she had never seen before. It was unnerving to Blake. Yang always seemed so happy, but now she wondered how much of it was pretending.

Eventually Yang settled down, when the height she was reaching was threatening to dump her straight out of the swing. She sat down and let the momentum slow and come to a gradual stop.

Yang smiled at Blake. "Whatcha thinking?"

"I'm thinking that we should probably be studying."

"Bah studying," Yang said as she wound the chains together into a tight coil. She let go of the tension and spun a few times.

"Isn't that the reason you asked me to meet you after the game?"

"That was part of it, yeah… But the main reason was I wanted to hang out with you."

Blake wished desperately that she could blame the redness of her cheeks on the cold. But Yang wasn't even looking at her anyways, her lilac gaze focused on the sky.

"Blake, do you ever feel like… Like I don't, know… Getting away from it all?"

_All the time._

"When I look at the moon and stars in the sky, especially on a clear night like tonight. Sometimes I wish I could just get transported there… Pretty silly huh?"

"I don't think it's not silly at all…"

Blake thought back to her days in Los Angeles. She couldn't remember very many clear nights. The city was always under a constant cloud of smog, not that she ever took the time to even look at the stars. Night was a time for mischief. The foster homes she grew up in never kept a tight ship. Her and her gang of friends were often left to their own devices, and that usually involved vandalism and petty theft. It was fun – at the time.

"The stars weren't as bright where I was from," Blake said wistfully, realizing a bit late that that statement didn't even fit with the current conversation.

"Where?"

"LA," Blake answered.

"Really? I would never have pegged you for a Southern California girl," Yang teased.

Blake smiled wryly. "I'm not. I lived in South Gate, definitely not the most shiny part of LA… I don't even like the beach."

Yang looked at her thoughtfully, and smiled at her. She wanted to ask why she left and moved to Portland, but from the way she talked about it, she felt like it was too soon ask.

They sat in companionable silence, lightly swaying back and forth, the rhythmic motion and soft whine of the chains having a comforting effect on them both.

Blake wasn't sure how long they sat there for, the thought of leaving only presenting itself when she started to see her breath in the autumn night air.

"We should probably go. It's getting late."

Yang snapped out of her trance. "Uh, yeah. We probably should…"

Yang insisted on walking Blake the rest of the way to her house despite Blake's repeated protests that she would be fine. Blake shoved her hands her pockets and dipped her chin into her collar, the tips of her nose and ears red from the chilly temperatures.

"Are you cold?"

"No."

"Come here."

Before Blake could say anything more, Yang wrapped her into a firm side hug. Blake stiffened under her touch at first but gradually started to relax, letting Yang's warmth envelope her and taking solace in her familiar citrus scent. Yang was surprisingly warm, even though she was only wearing a thin windbreaker.

"Body heat," Yang smiled.

Blake nodded and they continued to walk, Yang's arm draped around her shoulder.

Yang walked her all the way to her door, and for a moment they both paused, trying to figure out what to say next.

"Well, goodnight."

Yang ran her hand through her hair a bit nervously and awkwardly gave Blake a quick hug. "Goodnight. Thanks for coming out. See you tomorrow, kay?"

Yang descended down the steps. As she was about to leave, she turned and opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but after a pause, she just smiled and waved. Blake went inside and leaned against the door, missing Yang's warmth already.


	6. Progression

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah I was sorry about the delay last time, and then it took me 3 weeks to get this chapter out. Writing can be hard at times. Sometimes you get caught up with trying to make something perfect and end up writing nothing at all. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Aw crap," Yang said looking at the 65% marked on her chemistry exam. She glanced at Blake sheepishly. "Well, at least I passed."

Blake got a 90. "It's because you didn't study," she scolded softly.

"Hey, we had fun!" Yang paused for a moment, looking unsure. "We had fun, right?"

Blake's small reserved smile was answer enough. "That's not the point. Next time we meet to study, we're actually going to study."

"Alright, alright," Yang agreed. She held out her fist. "Partners?"

"Partners," Blake said, reluctantly bumping her fist.

* * *

Yang walked out of the steamy bathroom wrapped in a towel after a long hot shower. The muscles across her shoulder blades and thighs ached with all the exertion from the 5 games they played. It was a tough night, they had barely beat the other team.

Yang sat on the edge of her bed, working some of the tangles out of her hair with her fingers. She picked up her phone and texted Blake.

_+What are you up to?+_

Yang set the phone down on her pillow and started to work a wide tooth comb through her unruly wet hair. The chime of her phone went off a couple minutes later with Blake's answer in her customary to-the-point way of communicating.

_-Working on my English lit paper-_

Yang smiled and began typing a message.

_+Exciting stuff…+_

They had taken to exchanging texts every night before bed. Most of the conversations were centered on homework, others were silly, and others bordered on the flirtatious side.

_-How was the game?-_

_+Good, we won. I missed yo- +_

Yang's fingers automatically started typing that last part before she realized. She deleted and re-typed before sending:

_+Good we won. We missed you, it's always nice to have another cheerleader around+_

Blake took a bit longer to answer this time, and Yang was worried that she came on too strong about the 'missing you' thing. She flopped back on to the mattress and stared at the bottom of the top bunk. A swipe sound came from the phone a minute later.

_-Hm, that's funny since I am the exact opposite of a cheerleader by definition-_

Yang could just picture Blake smirking as she typed that. Another message came shortly after.

_-Sorry, but I have to finish this paper. Got 800 words to go, talk to you tomorrow okay?-_

Yang pouted a little before answering.

_+Okay. Sweet dreams Bla- +_

She edited her message again.

_+Okay. Goodnight+_

_-You too-_

She put the phone down and sighed, feeling somewhat empty. Blake had been on her mind a lot lately, Yang often found herself thinking about her shy smile or the rare laugh she did when Yang told her an especially bad pun.

To her delight, they were steadily growing closer and closer. Yang had even convinced Blake to join their Sunday afternoon study sessions. Things were still frosty between her and Weiss but at least they respected each other. Blake got along great with Ruby, they bonded over manga comics and which shade of black nail polish was the best. The younger girl even hugged Blake when they first met, telling her she felt like she already knew her.

" _Yang's told me so much about you."_

Even though Yang was learning more about Blake, she still felt like she was only scratching the surface. She would catch her staring off at times, not paying attention to the last few things she said. When Yang asked her, Blake would always shrug it off and blame some school project. Yang got the distinct feeling that she was hiding something and was determined to find out what it was eventually.

* * *

The next chemistry exam was coming up and Yang did agree to actually studying this time. She picked a day where she knew her dad would be out working the evening shift and invited Blake over to the apartment. Ruby was working late on her engineering project in the shop at school so it was just the two of them for the night.

There wasn't much space in Yang's small shared bedroom. Blake was laying on her stomach on Yang's bunk with her textbooks sprawled out in front of her while Yang was seated at the dresser with her binder of notes.

Blake watched Yang's reflection in the mirror, absentmindedly chewing on her pencil and twirling a golden lock of hair around her finger. It was slightly distracting.

"So do you feel ready for this test tomorrow?" Blake asked, trying to find something else to focus on other than Yang.

Yang caught her eye in the mirror and grinned.

"Of course, with you here helping me there's no way I'm going to fail."

Blake turned her gaze back at her books, a tinge of pink colouring her cheeks. "Don't be so sure…" she murmured quietly.

Suddenly the mattress dipped with the weight plopping down beside her. "What did you get for question 26?" Yang asked.

"Erm." Blake had to flip back a couple pages in her notebook, her fingers were trembling slightly. Yang was close, too close. Blake could feel her warm breath tickling the hairs on her neck and smell the fruity scent of her shampoo. The proximity was making her heart beat faster.

She finally found it. "Um 4427 kcal released from the reaction."

"How did you…" Yang carefully scanned Blake's neatly written calculations and equations.

With Yang thoroughly distracted with trying to figure out how she got the answer, Blake took the opportunity to study the blonde up close. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, but she still looked adorable. Blake didn't notice before, but Yang had a sprinkling of very light freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheekbones.

"Why did you do the conversion here?" Yang asked pointing with her pencil.

Blake fumbled with her answer, coming back to reality. "Because that's how the text book showed it?"

Yang paused and then smiled. "Haha I suppose you're right."

Blake managed a small smile back and they were quiet for a moment, looking fondly into each other's eyes. Neither of them moved, and Blake suddenly realized how close they were, Yang's chin tilted slightly to the side and their faces inches apart.

Blake's gaze involuntarily flickered down to Yang's smooth moist lips and then back to her lilac eyes. A wild thought crossed her mind. _No_ , she told herself. She did _not_ just think about kissing her best friend.

Blake tore her gaze away from her and started flipping the pages of her notebook. Her face felt incredibly warm. Yang rolled off the bed and slinked back to the dresser, and Blake started to feel like she could think clearly again. _What was that?_

Yang was Yang. It was a given that she was attractive and Blake could certainly appreciate the aesthetic qualities about her, but she had never felt like that for another girl before. Blake chastised herself for even thinking it, the idea seemed wrong on so many levels. First of all, Yang was her friend, she'd be fool to jeopardize that relationship. Second of all, Yang was a girl... And completely straight anyways…

"So have you decided on who you're going to the dance with?" Blake suddenly asked, needing to know.

"Huh? Well I haven't really thought about it. It's been kind of busy with volleyball and this whole trying to pass chemistry thing, you know?" Yang picked up a brush and started stroking it through the ends of her hair.

"Guys look at you all the time…" Blake stated. _I'm surprised you don't have a boyfriend._

Yang frowned a bit in the mirror. "Yeah. At my chest. It's like all they see are my boobs." Yang shuddered slightly. "Honestly, it kind of makes me uncomfortable."

Blake nodded in response. She could understand how being the center of attention wasn't always the best thing.

The stereo that had been playing quietly in the background started to play a new song.

"Mmm, I love this song," Yang said appreciatively, and she turned it up.

It was 'Meet Me In the Middle' by Jessie Ware. Yang stood up and started swaying to the sultry guitar riffs.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "50 Shades of Grey soundtrack? Really?"

"Don't judge. C'mon dance with me."

Before Blake could answer, Yang had already taken her by the hand and pulled her close. Surprisingly Blake didn't fight it, awkwardly placing her hands on the blonde's waist as Yang looped her arms around her shoulders.

" _Meet me in the middle…_ " Yang softly sang to herself.

Part of Blake wondered why Yang was doing this and why she was letting her. Her normal reaction to getting pulled into an impromptu dance would have been a hard shove but since it was Yang…

" _Could you prove me wrong… Could you prove me wrong…_ "

Blake kept her eyes trained on her collarbones, feeling too self-conscious to look anywhere else. The warmth of Yang's skin made Blake's face feel hot. The situation was strange. This whole night was strange. Too many new scary feelings. _What was this all about?_ A small voice in Blake's head frantically asked.

The blonde felt so comfortable in the embrace with her head resting against Blake's shoulder that she had closed her eyes at some point. Minutes passed and they were still holding on to each other.

"Yang?"

"Hmm?" Yang replied dreamily.

"The song's over."

Yang glanced at her ipod, it was the end of the playlist. She was so zoned out that she didn't even notice. They broke away awkwardly, avoiding each other's eyes.

Yang rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry, did I make things weird?"

"No," Blake answered quickly. "It was… Okay."


	7. Don't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some drama and negative feelings ahead.

Blake was at home getting ready for their weekly Sunday afternoon study session at Weiss' place. She was about to text Yang to pick her up when the phone rang. Blake looked at the cordless phone curiously. People rarely called the landline with the exception of the odd telemarketer or automated message. It was probably for Tukson. He wasn't home, away on a field mission in Africa and Blake was going to ignore it but it kept on ringing. Finally she picked up to make it stop.

"Hello?" she answered tersely.

"Hello Blake… My darling."

Blake's blood ran cold at the sound of that familiar gravelly voice.

"Adam…" That voice, that name, Blake felt nauseous from all the negative emotions hitting her all at once. "How did you get this number?" she demanded.

"Did you really think you could run from me?"

Blake felt her air catch in her chest, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

"Of course, you didn't even look back as they hauled me off to jail. Cold Blake, so cold."

She summoned all the strength she had to keep her voice from shaking. "Don't you ever call this number again, if you do I'll-"

"You'll do what?" Adam sneered. "You're still the same weak sniveling coward you always were. I have connections Blake, I know where you live. I know Tukson's not always home to protect you. I know who your friends are, especially that blonde bimbo you've been spending so much time with…"

The phone nearly dropped from Blake's hand. _Yang._ _How could he… Who's been spying on me?_

"Just think of what might happen to them if you went through with testifying-"

Blake's finger was on the end call button. She couldn't listen to anymore, couldn't listen to the gloating tone in his voice, the threat in his words. She felt sick, like she was about to retch. Blake sat on the couch, numb. Her ears felt like they had wind rushing past them as a cascade of dire thoughts went through her head.

The sudden chime from her phone nearly startled her half to death, and she was afraid to check it. Finally she mustered enough courage to look. It was from Yang.

_+Hey are you ready to go?+_

With trembling fingers, she typed out a message.

_-Sorry something came up, I can't make it today-_

A sad face emoticon popped in reply.

_+Aw that's too bad. Next time, ok?+_

Blake wasn't sure if there _was_ going to be a next time and she didn't reply.

* * *

The next morning Yang greeted Blake in her usual cheery fashion, "Morning Blake!"

Instead of answering right away, Blake shifted her eyes to the side and mumbled, "Yeah."

Yang raised her eyebrows at Blake's odd response, but she shrugged it off, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

"So how come you couldn't make it to Sunday study session yesterday?"

"I told you, something came up," Blake said in a clipped tone.

_Okay that was weird, something was definitely up._

"Did I do something wrong?" Yang asked quietly.

Blake looked directly at her this time, and Yang could see a glimmer of anger in her amber eyes. "Not everything is about you, Yang."

The blonde felt like she just got slapped. Blake looked regretful for a second but quickly turned her gaze elsewhere. Yang stared at her hands which were clasped in her lap and felt a stinging sensation behind her eyes. _This is so stupid_ , the rational part of her brain told her _. Are you about to cry over something like that?_

Yang bit her lip and pulled out her notebook out of her bag, and started scribbling notes. The stinging feeling gradually subsided, but Yang still felt incredibly hurt. She was surprised Blake had that kind of power over her. She was raised to be the strong one, the responsible one, the one who made everyone else happy. But now, there was someone close enough to break the façade.

Yang forced her face into a neutral expression and pretended to focus on class. _She's just probably having a bad day…_

Blake couldn't concentrate at all after seeing the raw hurt in Yang's eyes when she said that to her. She didn't feel good about treating her like that, but there was somebody spying on her, telling Adam everything. It wasn't safe to hang out and be happy-go-lucky anymore. For now, it had to be this way. Yang would understand eventually, Blake thought. _She'd have to._

* * *

Yang was utterly confused. _What the hell did I do?_ She thought as she punched the heavy bag with her gloved fists. Blake was hardly speaking to her in class and barely returning any of her texts. When confronted about it, Blake just shot her a fearful look and shrugged her shoulders, mumbling some lame excuse about being busy.

Yang had been spending more time at the local boxing gym, working out her frustrations on the punching bags. Hurt turned into frustration and frustration turned into anger. She ended her combination with a hard right cross that sent the bag swinging and Yang practically collapsed onto to the bag as she caught it.

She buried her face into her forearms with her chest heaving and vaguely wondered why most of the people in her life had checked out or straight up left her.

* * *

In class things got steadily worse. On lab days when they were forced to talk to each other in order to complete the experiments, only sharp barbs of instruction and acknowledgment passed between them. Yang was mad at Blake for avoiding her, and Blake was mad at Yang for being mad at her and not understanding her need for space.

It had been two weeks of this and Yang had had enough. Before Blake could make her usual quick exit from class, Yang firmly grabbed her by the arm and took them to an empty classroom.

"We need to talk," Yang stated as she shut the door.

"Fine. So talk," Blake tried to say indifferently, trying to calm her pounding heart. She could still feel the imprint on her arm from Yang's rough touch as she dragged her along.

"Why are you acting like this?" Yang demanded.

"I told you I've been bus-"

"Busy, like you always say, but that's bullshit and you know it!"

Yang's angry tone set Blake on the defensive. Growing up in multiple foster homes, she had to learn how to defend herself and fight for what was hers. She had only known Yang for a couple months. Who was she to demand so much from her, Blake thought ruefully.

They stood there glaring at each other for what seemed like an eternity until Yang spoke, her voice softening.

"Blake please… Talk to me. I know something's wrong, I just want to understand-"

"How could you possibly understand!" Blake burst out suddenly. "You have a family, you're blonde, the most popular girl in school! You have no idea what it's like to grow up alone, to live on the streets, scrounging for every scrap just to survive! Unlike you, some of us have real issues to deal with!"

Yang stared at her wide eyed, shocked into silence by her admission, but her shock quickly turned to anger.

"You think my life is so perfect, don't you," she growled bitterly with her fists shaking at her sides. "Well it's not. Far from it! I come home from school and my dad's already passed out on the couch from his latest bender, too out of it to even know what's happening! I lost my mom at 13. I wasn't allowed to be sad, I didn't have a choice, I had to keep things together for Ruby even when all I wanted to do was curl into a ball and forget about everything!"

Yang couldn't stop it once it started. Everything she had pent-up inside her came tumbling out with such ferocity that it shocked even her. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes as she stood there panting, staring resolutely at the floor.

Blake was equally shocked. She realized that she had no idea what Yang was going through, what she _had_ went through. She had been a terrible friend. A lump formed in her throat, and she found herself unable to speak, too ashamed to even look at Yang.

A long suffocating silence filled the room broken only by the sound of Yang's heavy breaths. After a lengthy pause, Blake tentatively reached out to her but Yang darted away from her touch.

"Don't."

And she stormed out, leaving Blake alone with her thoughts, full of guilt and regret.


	8. Half Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this out quicker than I expected, I guess I couldn't leave them mad at each other for very long :)

Blake looked sadly at the empty seat beside her. She knew Yang was angry at her but skipping class for three days straight? With her grades, Yang couldn't afford to miss that much class. What if she failed and couldn't graduate? It would all be her fault, another thing Blake did to hurt her.

Blake gathered her books into her bag and started to walk home from school, feeling more alone than ever. Isn't this what she wanted? She had shut her out, pushed her away, made erroneous assumptions about her life. Didn't she always hate it when people had made assumptions about her? And she had done the exact thing to Yang.

It seemed like too much to ask for forgiveness, but Blake felt like she was at one of those pivotal moments in her life where she would hate herself forever if she didn't at least try. It wasn't easy, Yang wasn't returning any of her calls or messages and even Ruby was being intentionally vague about her sister's whereabouts.

Volleyball season was over, so Yang didn't have practice anymore. Blake wondered where she could be spending all of her time, embarrassed that she still knew so little about her after all these months. A thought crossed her mind as she placed her key in the deadbolt lock of her door.

" _I still practice on the heavy bag once in a while…"_

Blake's eyes widened. That's it. She knew where Yang was.

* * *

It had been a familiar sight over the last couple of days, Yang mercilessly pounding the heavy bag over and over with her fists. _Maybe I can drop Chemistry_ , Yang thought. _Would I still be able to graduate if I do? Damn, I need that science elective though. Ah shit._

Yang knew she couldn't avoid Blake forever, no matter how hard she tried. It was just that… Everything was so screwed up now. From the things they yelled at each other, it was like they didn't know each other at all. Yang launched another hard strike into the bag, barely noticing the sting in her knuckles. The worst part was she wasn't even sure _why_ she was so angry.

* * *

The door to the boxing gym creaked as Blake pushed it open. The place was dimly lit with beige painted concrete brick walls, and blue mats on the worn hardwood floor. She wrinkled her nose as she entered, it smelled like lemon scented disinfectant, foam rubber and sweat.

Blake saw Yang immediately when she came in. She was at the heavy bag, punching it with a startling amount of force, the chains rankling with each strike. Yang was wearing a dark grey sports bra and tight yellow shorts with her long blonde hair tied in ponytail. Blake could see the sweat shining off the defined muscles of her back and shoulders. She took a breath and swallowed hard.

They were the only ones in the gym at that time. Blake just watched her from across the room, unsure if she should even approach her. She hadn't planned this far ahead of what to do after she found her. With Yang just a few feet away, her mind felt even more garbled. _She should say something, apologize!_ But Blake felt frozen in place… Then the sight of something red spurred her into action.

Blake grabbed Yang by the wrist. "You're bleeding."

Yang stared at her in surprise and yanked her hand away. There were a few spots of blood blooming through the wraps from her knuckles.

"It's nothing. I just didn't wrap my hands right," Yang said haltingly. She looked up at Blake. "You're not supposed to wear shoes on the mat."

Blake looked down at her boots and quietly stepped off the mat. They didn't say anything else. This was awkward.

Yang started unwrapping her hands, the Velcro end making a loud crackling sound as she roughly peeled it off.

"How did you find me?"

"There are only two boxing gyms in town, and this one was closer so…" Blake tried to smile but it faded as soon as she saw Yang's suspicious lilac eyes.

They stared at each other not speaking for one long uncomfortable minute.

"I have to go," Yang finally said, turning to leave.

"Please!" Blake exclaimed suddenly, surprising Yang and herself. "I… I can't stand you being mad at me." She hated how weak and vulnerable she sounded but it was the truth.

Yang looked dismayed. She took a step forward with the intention to pull Blake into a hug but stopped herself short. She sighed heavily. "I'm not mad at you… I'm embarrassed…"

Blake's brow furrowed in confusion. "Embarrassed? Why?"

"I… I really lost it that day. All the things that I said... It was wrong of me to blow up on you like that."

Blake shook her head furiously in response. "No, I was wrong. I said those awful things to you. I shouldn't have assumed. I'm sorry."

"It's okay…" Yang mumbled inaudibly. "It's just… Why were you shutting me out?"

"It's a long story…"

Yang sat down cross-legged on the mat and patted an empty space in front of her. "I've got time," she said with a gentle smile.

Blake looked hesitant for a moment before slipping off her shoes and sitting down with Yang.

"I had this close friend before… Adam." Blake paused, fiddling with her fingers.

"Was he your… Boyfriend?"

"I don't know. I guess?"

Blake thought back to that time. Things were different back then, he was different. Adam was a lot of things to her, a friend, brother, mentor. The lines started to blur when they got older, when they became romantically involved.

"We used to be close. He was the only one there for me, a lot of the time… But then he started to change, getting more possessive and violent."

"Did he ever…?" Yang was almost afraid to ask, knowing her own temper. She would drive down to LA in a heartbeat just to smash his face in if he had _ever_ hurt Blake.

"No," Blake said absently. "He never physically hurt me, but he had hurt other people... I cut ties with him a while ago and moved here." It was a half-truth. "I hadn't seen or spoke to him months. A few weeks ago, he called my house and said some things to me…" Blake's voice tapered off.

"What did he say?" Yang asked through gritted teeth. Her knuckles began to bleed again from how hard she was clenching her fists.

"Just… Things. Things he shouldn't have been able to know without someone telling him. I think someone's been spying on me," Blake said finally.

"Do you know who it is?"

Blake shook her head. "Anyways, I just didn't want to drag you into my mess… I'll understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore with all my complicated-"

"Stop that right now," Yang said seriously. "I'll always be your friend no matter what."

Blake was stunned into silence by Yang's sincere proclamation. She started to feel something warm swell in her chest, like a more concentrated version of what she usually felt when she was around Yang; Acceptance.

"We'll find this rat together," Yang said bringing her fist into her palm, a bit of confidence returning to her eyes. She stood up and extended a hand to Blake. "Whaddya say?"

Blake took her hand and let her pull her up. "Thank you… And Yang?"

"Hmm?"

Blake remembered the hurt that was in her voice that day when they were yelling at each other. "I'm sorry about your mom."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Yang said running a hand through her hair. "It was a long time ago. Ruby and I are doing a lot better now…"

Blake asked timidly, "And your dad?"

A pained expression flickered past Yang's face. "He has good days and bad… And you? So Tukson's not your…"

"No. He's just a legal guardian for now before I turn 18. My parents passed away in a car accident when I was four." Blake had said that sentence so many times in her youth that the words had lost their meaning and any feelings that went with them.

Yang gazed at her compassionately. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Blake hugged her left arm, and looked down at the floor. "Thanks," she whispered.

There was so much more Yang wanted to ask but she decided that was enough for now. "Alright, enough of this sad stuff," Yang declared. "I'll get showered up and we can talk more about this spy over smoothies. My treat." She winked.

And that was that. Blake's mouth hung open slightly from how easy it was, but then again everything with Yang felt easy. She was lucky to have her.

"Sure Yang," Blake said smiling and falling into step with her.


	9. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might be a bit different than the others, just wanted to try my hand at writing other character interactions and a high school party, woot.

"Should the streamers go here or here?" Yang asked Nora who was stringing up a sign that said "par-tay!" on her living room wall.

"There and there," Nora cheerily replied, pointing to the two opposite corners.

Yang dutifully hung the streamers from one end to another.

"Helloo," Pyrrha greeted as she entered the room with a large grocery bag full of soda and chips. She started to arrange the soft drinks and snacks on the fold out table at the side.

"Looks great!" Nora said, clapping Yang on the back, startling the blonde a bit from the force. "Soo…" She lowered her voice, trying to be coy. "Is Blake coming tonight?"

"Uh, yeah… She said she would," Yang answered, her cheeks heating up just the slightest bit.

Over their nearly hour long talk over smoothies, Blake had shot down most of Yang's "brilliant plans" of hidden cameras and 24 hour bodyguard protection, and settled on something sensible and less crazy. They were going to act normal while watching for anyone suspicious.

 _So boring_ , Yang had lamented. At least she was able to convince Blake to come to this party on the pretext of following their plan.

" _C'mon half the school is invited, we're bound to see someone suspicious there."_

_"_ _I don't know, Yang…"_

_"_ _Please?"_

_"…_ _Okay."_

_"_ _YES!"_

Nora couldn't resist pushing further. "Does that mean you guys aren't fighting anymore?"

"Psh, who said we were fighting?"

"No one!" Pyrrha chimed in nervously.

"Please, you were moping around for a month."

"I was _not_ moping. We just had a misunderstanding."

"And the important thing is they are fine now," Pyrrha sagely announced, effectively ending the questioning.

Yang shot Pyrrha a grateful look. _Thank you_.

* * *

After deliberating for an hour on what to wear, Blake chose a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, and a black long-sleeved shirt. She didn't know why she was even going. A congregation of drunk teenagers in a small space was definitely not her thing. Still, she let herself be worn down by Yang's persistence, thankful that they were talking and things were somewhat normal again.

Blake ran a brush through her long wavy ebony hair, and touched up her lavender coloured eyeliner. Purple was her favourite colour and unintentionally, Blake vaguely thought about how it was also the same colour as Yang's eyes. She took a deep breath, clearing the errant thought from her head.

* * *

Blake was late. She told her it was at seven, _where was she_? Yang nursed her drink and looked at the front door forlornly. _Maybe she wasn't coming after all_.

She heard Ruby and Weiss bickering about something in the background. Even at a party those two didn't stop. Yang was beginning to regret letting Ruby come along tonight. At least she could keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't get into trouble, it was good for her to socialize with more people.

Suddenly her vision was covered by a pair of hands over her eyes.

"Guess who?" a feminine voice asked.

 _Well it wasn't Blake that's for sure_ , Yang thought. She wasn't usually playful like that.

"I give up."

The voice giggled and the mystery person turned her around. Yang was met with petite brunette in shades and a beret smiling up at her.

"Coco? What are you doing here? I'd have figured that you'd have some rad college party to go to on a Saturday night."

"You know I wouldn't miss a Nora party, even if you guys are lame highschoolers. Velvet, Yatsu, and Fox came for old time's sake too."

At the mention, they waved at her from the corner when Yang looked up. She waved back. Yang was on the same sports teams as Coco and Velvet in school and they were good friends even though they were one year her senior. It was nice to seeing them.

"So why such the long face? You look like you're waiting for somebody."

"Uh, yeah I am, just a friend… Anyways, why don't you tell me some exciting college stories?"

"Well there was this one time…" Coco began.

* * *

There were cars lined up around the block when Blake pulled up and it was difficult to find a parking spot nearby. She arrived one full hour late so she wouldn't have to stay as long. She was only making an appearance because Yang asked her to. A part of her knew that tonight would be a complete waste of time but she couldn't bear the thought of disappointing the blonde by not showing up.

The music was loud and thumping as Blake walked up to Nora and Ren's house. According to Yang, Nora and Ren rented this house with some help from their respective parent's who were always traveling overseas for work, some sort of missionary thing. The two of them had a special relationship, Blake assumed they were dating but Yang said they weren't official like that, just that they were childhood friends and very close.

When Blake stepped through the front door, she immediately saw Jaune shot-gunning a can of beer in the corner with Sun and Neptune. His blue eyes widened as he sputtered, and the foamy beer spilled down the front of his shirt.

"I'm going to be sick!" he said, looking green and running to the bathroom.

Blake quirked an eyebrow. _Lovely_. Sun and Neptune laughed and clapped each other on the back. Sun saw Blake standing at the doorway and winked at her. Blake didn't respond, instead taking off her coat and hanging it in the closet. _What was that about?_

She passed by dozens of unfamiliar faces. Every bit of space in the small house seemed to be occupied by people talking, drinking or kissing. In the crowded throng, Blake remembered why she hated these things in the first place. Where was Yang? The blonde seemed to be nowhere in sight.

Blake walked by a bedroom that had a large bookshelf spanning an entire wall. She could see few of the titles from the doorway, "Catch-22," "Ulysses," and "The Sun Also Rises."

Intrigued, she stepped in and picked a leather bound book off the shelf, "A Brave New World," one of her favourites that she had read years ago from the public library. Blake took in the old musty smell of the glue and pages that always comforted her as a child.

"That's a great book," a low, kind voice said.

Blake turned around to see Ren sitting cross-legged on his bed and his hands resting on this knees in what appears to be a meditative stance.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"You don't have to apologize. It's always good to see someone who has taste." He smiled softly at her.

Blake smiled back. She liked Ren, he was always so quiet and calm compared to the other teens at the school, his counterpart Nora especially. With his thick black hair drawn into a pony tail and pink streak running through his hair, Blake had him pegged as a wannabe punk rocker but that presumption was so different from who he really was. No artifice, no need to prove anything, no need to act a certain way, he was just content and cool.

"How come you're not with the others enjoying the party?" Blake asked.

"Nora's parties tend to give me headaches."

"… If you don't mind me asking, how do you guys get along so well? You're so different from each other." Blake wondered if it was an opposites attract thing.

"Opposites attact?" Ren said like he knew what she was thinking. "I'm not sure what it is actually. I guess we balance each other out? I know she'll always be there for me and I'll always be there for her," he said solemnly.

For some reason when Ren said that, Blake inadvertently started thinking about her and Yang.

"That's nice you have someone like that…"

"And you?"

"Me?" Blake asked nervously.

"How come you're in here, and not out there?"

"Oh. Parties aren't really my thing. I only came because…"

Ren smiled gently. "Yang?"

"Yeah..."

"Try the back porch, I think I saw her there earlier."

"Thanks. What about you, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get back to my meditation, it helps with the headaches."

Blake nodded. _What a cool dude_ , she thought.

Blake walked by the back porch but just saw a couple who were making out furiously on the swing. Still no Yang. Getting tired of the search, she sat down on the recently vacated couch as a group of teens left to smoke cigarettes outside. Blake closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She only had a minute to enjoy the quiet when the seat next to her suddenly dipped with a weight of another person.

"Hey, you're Yang's friend Blake right?" Sun asked, smiling.

"Yes?"

"I'm Sun!" he said, gesturing to himself with his thumb.

"I know who you are." It was hard to miss the spiky blonde's antics with his blue haired companion Neptune around school.

He grinned at her. "Yang says you're from LA. I used to live there too, in Huntington Beach."

Blake was not surprised. With his bright blonde hair and perma-tan, plus the surfer dude attitude, he'd fit right in.

"Then my parents had to move here for work." He pouted slightly. "I really miss the beach and the hot weather… What about you?"

Truthfully, Blake didn't really miss much of anything about LA.

"I never liked the beach…" With her pale skin and jet black hair, Blake always felt out of place when she went.

An awkward silence fell between them. "So… Do you like… Stuff?"

 _What?_   Before Blake could answer, she looked up to see Yang walking through the door with a petite brunette, holding a brown paper bag loaded with an assortment of glass bottles. She must have gone for a liquor run with someone old enough who could pull for them.

Yang saw Blake right away and smiled at her, but her smile faded a bit in surprise when she noticed she was sitting on the couch with Sun. They seemed be having a good conversation, so she decided to leave them be instead of approaching. It was good for Blake to branch out, Yang rationalized. She couldn't keep Blake to herself all the time could she?

 _Where is she going, isn't she going to say hi?_   Blake thought worriedly. It was then she noticed Sun was staring at her eagerly for a response. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"The graduation dance, are you going? I mean it sounds pretty lame but you and me I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?"

Blake stared at Sun blankly for a few seconds. Was he asking her in some roundabout way to be his date for the dance? Blake couldn't help let out a laugh, though she made a valiant effort to suppress it. "Sorry, I wouldn't be caught dead at one of those, it's really not my thing."

Sun looked crestfallen for a moment but quickly recovered. "Haha yeah, I'm probably not going to go either, way too cool for that…" he mumbled. "I hope I can get my grades up to graduate though. Biology is such a killer."

Yang arranged the new bottles of liquor and mix on the table with her eyes downcast. She had never heard Blake laugh like _that_ before. _She must be having a good time with Sun, oh well._

"Ruby!" she called, "I got your milk!"

* * *

Later that night, most of the random people had left leaving the "core" group of friends lounging in the living room.

Ruby and Weiss were, surprisingly, dozing together at the corner of the couch, Weiss' head resting on Ruby's shoulder. It was pretty cute actually. Nora and Ren were sitting together on the other side, the latter deciding to come out of his room now that the party had settled down, his arm slung casually around Nora's shoulders.

Pyrrha and Jaune were sitting on the floor with their backs leaning against the wall, conversing quietly. Sun and Neptune sat on the love seat talking animatedly while Blake sat on the floor her back resting against the seat, and her knees drawn up, idly sipping from a beer bottle.

In another corner, sitting in a circle on the floor, Coco, Velvet, Yatsu, Fox and Yang were playing Sociables and Coco just drew the joker card.

"Joker. Now finish your drink," Fox said happily.

Coco and Velvet had been picking on him all night, trying to get him drunk. Yatsu with his large frame would have been a wasted effort.

"What?" Coco exclaimed, looking nervously at her nearly full cup of rum and coke. "Why was there a joker in the deck? Nooo! Save me Yang!"

Coco dramatically threw her arms around Yang, and dragged her to the floor. Yang just laughed and let her slide out her arms as she sat up.

"Look at you guys and all your flirting, you should just kiss already," Nora whined, a little inebriated herself.

A chant of "kiss, kiss, kiss" erupted from the boys the moment Nora said the word.

"I'm game if you are, tiger," Coco purred.

Yang was never one to back down from a challenge. "You're on."

With her fingers on gently placed on the corner of her jaw, Coco pulled Yang in for a kiss. It was closed mouth, sweet, and only lasted for two seconds but Blake felt her chest contract painfully as she watched them. Coco and Yang smiled and hugged affectionately afterward while the boys whooped and cheered.

"That was so hot!" Sun exclaimed.

Blake discreetly got up amid the cheering, making brief eye contact with Yang as she walked away to the kitchen. She needed some air.

Blake stepped out onto the back porch and looked into the night, shivering a little from the cool breeze. She absentmindedly rubbed her arms as she tried to figure out her feelings. Why did that bother her so much? The sound of the back door opening broke Blake away from her thoughts.

"Hey," Yang said standing beside her.

"Hey."

They were silent for a moment.

"How come you're out here by yourself?"

Blake shrugged noncommittally. "Needed some air, I guess."

"Did that kiss make you uncomfortable?" Yang didn't think that Blake was the type of person who was uptight about that sort of thing but the raven haired girl did have a tendency to surprise her. It certainly wasn't a big deal to Yang, it was the 21st century after all.

Blake scoffed. "Hardly. If you want to kiss someone for the entertainment of teenage boys, that's none of my business."

 _Ooo harsh_ , Yang thought.

"It was just for fun. It didn't mean anything," Yang said quickly, feeling the need to explain at the same time wondering why she felt like she needed to explain.

"Yeah. Right, Yang."

 _Ohh-kay time to change the subject_. "Nice night, huh?" Yang said taking a sip from her red plastic cup.

"How many of those have you had?" Blake asked.

"This? It's just Pepsi. I don't really drink…" Yang said awkwardly.

"Oh."

A long beat of silence passed between them.

"Hey-"

"I was-"

They both started at the same time.

Yang chuckled. "Sorry you go ahead."

"No you first."

"I, uh…" Yang tapped her chin. "Darn, I forgot what I was going to say."

 _That's convenient_ , Blake thought. She was about to respond when,

"I missed you…" Yang said softly. She wasn't exactly sure if she meant the time span of this party or the last few of weeks.

Blake was surprised at the sudden admission. She looked at Yang who wasn't looking at her, arms crossed over chest for warmth.

"Yang…" Blake closed the distance between them and put her arms around her. "…I missed you too…" she whispered.

Blake could feel Yang stiffen under her touch at first, all hard muscle and bone, but there was also softness and vulnerability too. She liked that.

They held each other tighter and stood like that for a long moment.

"Blake."

"Hm?"

"Did you hear something?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone else see Ashley (voice of Coco) and Barbara (voice of Yang) kiss on the Rooster Teeth Extra Life Stream? I thought it was pretty cute.


	10. Seen

"Did you hear something?" Yang asked.

Blake looked around. "No… If this is a joke Yang, it's not funny."

"I heard something… There it is!"

This time Blake heard it, a rustling in the bushes beside the porch. Suddenly, a figure darted out and ran on to the street. Yang took off after them, jumping off the porch steps into a full sprint.

"Yang!"

Blake ran after Yang. Her one second pause had resulted in a half block distance between them.

The figure leapt over fences and ran into the alleyway behind the houses on the next block, tossing over garbage cans to slow Yang down. But she was undeterred; she was an athlete, built for this type of chase. As she got closer, she could see that the figure running from her was a boy close to her age, with dyed grey hair.

He started slowing down after the second block, and Yang was finally close enough to grab the back of his black hoody. She shoved him against the concrete brick wall of a garage, and hoisted him up by the collar.

"Who are you?"

He looked at her but did not answer.

Yang was losing patience. She hoisted him higher. "Are you the one telling Adam shit?"

At the mention of that name, a flicker of recognition flashed through his eyes.

"If you are I'm going to—"

Suddenly the grey-haired teenager grabbed Yang's wrists and swung his legs, kicking Yang in the stomach with both his feet.

"Motherfu-!" Yang growled when she was forced to stumble back.

He tried to follow up with another kick to the head but Yang managed to dodge it. They squared off with each other. Yang recognized his stance as Taekwondo from the way he stood one foot facing forward and one to the side. She checked a few hard kicks with her shin and tried to counter with a right but he leaned his head back fluidly.

Suddenly the boy was struck with a garbage can lid tossed at his back, distracting him enough for Yang to grab and push him against the wall again. Blake was by her side in an instant.

"Who are you, and why were you watching us?"

The boy just struggled harder in Yang's grasp. Blake pulled out a switch blade from her back pocket and put it to the side of his face. He stopped struggling immediately. Yang's eyes widened at the sight of the blade. She looked like she was about to say something but stopped herself.

"Talk," Blake said.

He looked afraid for a second but then his expression turned smug. "Heh, did you think you could get away scot free while the rest of us had to pay?"

Blake stared him down in cold fury, trying to figure out where she had seen him before.

"You… You're Mercury… Sable's little brother. You were always trying to tag along with us..."

Mercury seemed to flinch at the memory.

"Is this what you're doing now?" Blake asked. "Spying on me for that sadistic bastard? I was friends with your sister!"

"At least I still have loyalty, unlike you. No one crosses Adam Taurus and gets away with it. He'll get you eventually," he said ominously.

"Blake what is he talking about?" Yang asked.

Mercury smiled at Blake who stood there frozen with the switch blade in her hand.

When she didn't answer, Yang gave Mercury another shove against the wall. "Listen to me you little shit, if you tell that bastard Adam anything else about Blake, I will end you. You hear me? I will end you!" She threw him on to the ground and he stumbled away.

After he was out of sight, Yang bent over and clutched her sides.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked, snapping out of her trance.

Yang waved her away. "I'm fine. The jerk just surprised me is all." She pointed at the switch blade in Blake's hand. "What was up with the knife?"

Blake looked at shiny steel blade in her steady hand. "It's for protection," she said simply, putting it back in her pocket. "I don't expect you to understand."

Yang stared at her disbelievingly. _There she goes again, shutting me out, how am I supposed to understand when you won't tell me anything?_ They had caught the spy but Yang didn't expect it would feel like this; more questions than answers, uncertain if she knew who Blake was at all.

"For a second there, I thought you were really going to cut him."

Blake gazed back at her with golden pupils that seemed to glow with the moonlight reflected in them. She didn't answer her. Yang shivered in the wind, she had no jacket. The adrenaline had worn off and she was starting to feel cold.

"Where are you going?" Blake asked, watching Yang start to walk away.

"Back to the house. I'm going to get Ruby and head home."

"Yang..."

"See ya." Yang said sharply, without turning around.

* * *

The next evening, Yang was happy that it was a quiet Sunday night with no place in particular she had to be. Her dad was even home for once, watching the news with a beer in his hand. _At least he wasn't shitfaced drunk at the bar again_. Yang counted that as a small victory.

Yang was on the kitchen computer, scrolling through the pictures posted from the night before. There were a few funny ones. Nora with redeye from the flash, holding an oversized inflatable toy hammer in one hand with the other around Ren's neck. Yang smiled, Ren looked mildly afraid in the picture.

The next one was a selfie of her and Coco who was lowering her shades seductively. It was supposed to be a "beauty shot" but Yang just didn't have it in her to do a duck face so she had just grinned. She tried to find one of Blake but there weren't too many with her. Just a close up of Jaune and Pyrrha where she was in the background talking to Sun.

Yang frowned at the image. The party didn't turn out like she thought it would. She was hoping that it would bring her and Blake closer together but in the end, it only seemed to remind her that Blake _still_ didn't trust her enough to tell her everything.

At least Mercury wouldn't be spying on them anymore, unless he wanted a beating. Yang shuddered when she remembered the cold look in Blake's eyes when she confronted him. The ease with the way she pulled out the knife and held it to his face unsettled Yang. It was like Blake had done that kind of thing a hundred times before.

She closed the pictures and was now officially bored. With nothing else to do, Yang moved the cursor to the search bar of the social media site, fingers twitching to type that name again. Raven Branwen. It had been a while since she had thought about her biological mother with everything that was going on with Blake lately.

Yang stole a quick glance at her dad. He was fast asleep in the arm chair. With her fingers poised over the keyboard, she thought 'what the hell' and typed in Raven Branwen. Nothing. No profile pictures matching the few old photos she still had of her.

Yang was about to give up when she thought of another thing to try. She typed in the name Raven with no last name and profile with a picture of a woman in her mid thirties with dark wavy hair came up. The picture was in black and white of the woman looking off to the side. It seemed to be going for an artistic theme.

A gasp left her mouth when she saw the face. It was definitely her. The resemblance was uncanny. They had the same round eye shape and high cheek bones. The same thick unruly fringe of bangs except black instead of blonde like her.

Yang quickly clicked on the profile and it went straight to her 'about' page. Raven. Just 'Raven,' like a celebrity who chose not go with a last name. Photographer. Based out Portland.

Hungrily searching for more information, Yang found her profile to be frustratingly spare and incomplete. In the photos section, there were only pictures of black and white still lifes and landscapes, haunting images of trees with no leaves and smoke rising up to the sky.

People on her 'friends' list could probably see more, Yang thought bitterly. She wondered if she had any family members on her list. Maybe she had kids… Kids she actually kept in touch with and gave a shit about. The thought twisted Yang in her gut.

Yang clicked on the message button. She really didn't know what she was doing now, being a glutton for punishment if she had to guess. _Might as well go all the way and seal my rejection digitally and forever in one last blaze of glory_ , she thought wildly. Yang always hated cowards.

Yang started typing nervously, deleting and rewriting entire sentences for fifteen minutes until she settled on something simple:

_Hey. It's me, Yang. Your daughter._

Yang pressed enter. She stared at the screen for a few minutes, a footnote in tiny font popped up under her message.

_Seen at 11:46 pm._

Seen. Her message had been seen. Yang held her breath and waited for a response. _Seen at 11:46 pm._ Raven had seen her message! She sat at the computer for an hour waiting for a response but none came.

One train of thought kept rolling over and over in her mind: _Seen, but she didn't respond. Seen, but she didn't want to respond. Seen, but she didn't care._

Yang felt so pathetic she could cry.


	11. Family and Gifts

It took Yang a couple of days to get over it, but she did. Thinking back, she didn't really expect Raven to respond, why would she? She obviously wanted nothing to do with her, they were in the same city and she never contacted her once.

It was just foolish hope that made Yang send that message. Raven didn't want to write back? _Fuck her._ She didn't need that woman in her life anyways now that she had confirmed how selfish she truly was. It was a blessing in disguise, Yang tried to tell herself.

Final exams were coming up in December, right before the winter break. Yang dove into her studies, determined to get good marks and finish strong. She'd make something out of herself, make her real mom Summer proud of her.

"But Yang, what are we going to get Uncle Qrow for Christmas?" Ruby asked, toothbrush in her mouth, getting ready for bed.

Yang was hunched over at her desk, feverishly writing biology notes. "Not now Ruby, I have to cram all this stuff into my brain…" Yang furrowed her brow at her text book. "Meiosis…? This again? Argh!"

It was 10 pm at night, Yang had spent the day with Weiss studying Biology but she still felt like she needed to cram. To make matters worse, the Chemistry final was the day after Biology and she didn't feel ready at all. If only she could call… Yang chewed on her lip and looked at her phone.

Things between her and Blake after the party had been a little tense. They still talked, mostly in class but it wasn't quite as easy as it was before. After going back and forth a dozen times, weighing the pros and cons, Yang made up her mind and hit the call button on Blake's contact.

Blake picked up on the third ring. "Hello?" she answered, sounding a little hesitant.

"Blake, hey. It's Yang, it's not too late to talk is it?"

"No, I'm just surprised you called me at home. I thought you were… Mad at me…"

"Honestly, I still am kind of. I just wish you would trust me more, but I get it… These things take time right?"

"Yang…" Blake felt like she truly didn't deserve Yang as a friend.

"Anyways, I'm calling about the Chemistry final on Tuesday. I could really use some help studying, I was wondering if we could meet tomorrow."

"Yes," Blake said, a bit too quickly. She checked herself. "I mean, sure. Is the downtown public library okay?"

"Sounds great, you're a lifesaver! I'll text you after I'm done Biology. That is, if I actually survive the test with some brain cells still intact."

The dark haired girl laughed, a melodic sort of chortle. Yang smiled and played with her hair, deciding that she really missed Blake's laugh and wanted to hear it again.

"Goodnight, Yang."

"Night."

* * *

The next day, they spent hours at the library going over notes and labs. Blake patiently answered all of Yang's questions about bond pairings and stoichiometry in her usual calm reserved way. The blonde's head was spinning at times but at the end of the night, she started to feel somewhat okay about the upcoming exam.

"You'll do fine," Blake said.

Yang shrugged and managed a smile. "I hope so. I really want to do well this semester."

On the morning of the final, Yang was nervous as she flipped through the 15 pages of the lengthy exam. She took a deep breath and started with the problem sets, choosing to save the multiple choice for later, and trying to keep Blake's soothing voice in her head. _You'll do fine._

Three days later, after her English final, Yang walked up to the board where the chemistry marks were posted with a feeling of dread. She scanned the dot matrix printed paper for her student number. She found it. _Wait that can't be right…_ B-plus, 87%. She had gotten an B-plus!

Yang could barely contain her excitement. She jumped up and down and whooped, earning a stern look from a teacher who popped her head out of a class where they were still writing finals. Yang covered her mouth apologetically, but quickly went back to pumping her fist and hissing "Yes!" to herself.

Yang heard someone turning the corner, and she whipped around ready to pull whoever it was into her impromptu celebration. To her surprise, it was Blake, looking cool and beautiful in a dark purple cardigan and black skinny jeans with her book bag slung over her shoulder. Yang grinned and hefted her in the air, holding her by the hips.

Blake let out an undignified yelp. "Whoa there."

Yang set her down. "Blake, I got a B-plus, 87%!"

"Congratulations," Blake said sincerely. "I knew you could do it."

"It's all because of you."

"I didn't do anything... But thanks," Blake mumbled, starting to feel embarrassed by the sheer adoration in Yang's gaze. "So… I guess this is it, huh? We won't be lab partners anymore."

Yang's grin faded a few notches when she realized the one class they had together was over. "I guess not… But hey, what's your schedule like next term?"

"I have Physics first period, then English B and-"

"With Mr. Christianson?" Yang interrupted.

"Yeah."

"I'm in that one too!" Yang exclaimed.

Blake smiled, her usual smirk, subtle but stunning, the one that always gave Yang the sensation of butterflies in her chest. "Then I guess I'll see you around... Bye, Yang."

"See you…"

* * *

Yang walked aimlessly through the mall, taking a moment to adjust the wool beanie that she had pulled hastily over her messy hair. Last minute Christmas shopping, definitely not her favourite way to spend a Saturday afternoon. She wanted to get something for Blake to thank her for helping her study. The problem was that she had no idea what the mysterious girl would actually want for a gift.

Blake didn't seem to be into material things, a worn out novel was her most constant accessory. Yang walked into a stationary shop and saw a black leather journal with a flower design on the cover. The flower looked vaguely familiar to her and she wondered where she had seen it before. Then it dawned on her.

When she first met Blake, her last name had sounded so pretty and cool that Yang googled it to see what it meant. Belladonna; 'beautiful lady' in Italian and most famously, an extremely poisonous flower otherwise known as deadly nightshade. In Renaissance Italy, women used it in eye drops to dilate their pupils to appear more seductive. Beautiful, deadly, seductive, all words that seemed to describe Blake in Yang's mind.

The cover had the outline of two belladonna flowers stamped into the leather. Each one of them had five pointed petals curving outward from an elegant bell shape facing opposite directions. Yang turned the well-crafted journal over. It costed $50, a small fortune for a highschooler whose only means of income was working at the Dairy Queen in the summers. It was a little pricey but Yang knew it was the one, the gift that'd be perfect for Blake.

* * *

It was Christmas morning at the Xiao Long apartment. Ruby, Tai Yang and Uncle Qrow were seated at the table laughing and telling jokes while Yang flipped the pancakes.

They had exchanged gifts earlier in their pajamas right after they woke up. Ruby and Yang gave their father an "ugly" Christmas sweater, pixilated white reindeer shapes against a dark bluish green background. He laughed out loud and put it on immediately.

Yang got Ruby a portable battery charger for her phone so she could play that godforsaken Pokemon Go game longer in the summer. Ruby got Yang a couple vintage style T shirts with her favourite band The Achieve.

When Uncle Qrow came over for breakfast, they gave him his present, a Scottish kilt, a gag gift inspired by a story their dad told them about Qrow 'accidentally' wearing a girl's school uniform skirt to a high school assembly.

"I bet I can finish this stack before you do," Taiyang challenging Ruby with his fingers poised on the fork.

"You're on, old man!"

They dug into the pancakes hungrily, loading them up with butter and syrup, and demolishing them quicker than Yang could make them.

Yang smiled at the scene and exchanged a knowing nod with Uncle Qrow. This was her family, flaws, rough edges, and all sorts of crazy. She wouldn't have it any other way.

Uncle Qrow was also a cop, but he worked in a different district, often doing undercover work. He wasn't able to visit much but Yang always appreciated the way he was always there for them when they really needed him.

"Hey Uncle Qrow, can you help me with the dishes?"

"Sure, kid."

He gathered up the sticky dishes in pile and brought them to the sink where Yang's arms were elbow deep in suds.

"What's up, firecracker?" he asked quietly.

Yang didn't glance up from the dishes but asked in a low voice. "Is Raven back in town?

Qrow frowned at the question but he didn't look surprised. "How did you know that?"

"I saw her Facebook page."

He sighed, and muttered something that sounded like, "That idiot…"

Qrow was her biological mother's twin brother but they were nothing alike. Raven had cut ties with all of her family including her brother when she left to pursue her own goals. She didn't keep in touch with any of them.

"I heard she had come back to Portland a couple of months ago from God-knows-where she was before. She didn't contact me or anyone else, it's just part of my job to know what's going on in the city…"

Yang nodded numbly.

"Sorry kid, that's all I got… I wouldn't try contacting her if I were you. She's the type of person who only knows how to hurt, not cut out to be a mother at all."

When Yang was younger, she used to ask him questions all the time about Raven, who she was and what was she like, but he resolutely would _not_ talk about her. She used to hate him for it but now she realized that it was for her own good, so she wouldn't find out what a selfish bitch she truly was.

"Thanks, Uncle."

"Anytime," he said walking away back to the living room where Ruby and Taiyang were playing Mario Kart on the Wii.

Suddenly Yang's phone sitting on the counter lit up with a text message. Yang wiped her hands on the dish cloth and picked up. It was from Blake:

_-Are you busy right now? I'd like to drop off a gift-_

Yang was surprised Blake had messaged her first. She was already planning on texting for a time to meet after breakfast.

_+Not at all, come on over+_

Twenty minutes later there was a soft knock at the door. Yang retrieved the gift wrapped journal from her room and answered the door with a smile.

"Hi."

"Hi," Blake said stepping into the small narrow entryway holding a medium sized box. "I'm not interrupting am I?" She could hear Ruby and Uncle Qrow laughing around the corner from the wall.

"No, you're fine. We just finished breakfast."

Yang noticed Blake's cheeks were red, presumably from the cold.

"Did you walk here? You should have told me, I would have given you a ride."

"It's not that far, and it's actually a nice day for a walk," Blake said flashing a gleaming smile.

"I guess you're right…" Yang fiddled with the package she held behind her back. "Here you go, Blake," she blurted out, handing the gift to her.

Blake was surprised. She set down her box on the little table by the door and took the gift into her hands.

"Yang, you shouldn't have."

"Open it," Yang said, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Blake carefully opened the wrapping paper and let out a little gasp when she saw the journal. She ran her finger over the flower petals embossed into the leather.

"Thank you…" Blake whispered. It was beautifully made. She recognized them right away as belladonna flowers, the same as her family name.

"I just thought it was pretty…" _Like you,_ Yang thought.

Blake smiled warmly at Yang in appreciation. "I have something for you," she said, setting down the journal and handing her a plain white rectangular box.

"You didn't have to," Yang started.

"I wanted to…" Blake glanced up at her shyly. "Listen Yang, I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with… And well, I just want to thank you for your patience with me and being my friend."

"You don't have to thank me…" Yang mumbled awkwardly. She opened the box and found a soft orange scarf folded neatly inside. The scarf had an emblem of a yellow flaming heart sewn on one of the ends. It was the design she had hand painted on to her motorcycle and helmet, her own personal symbol that described who she was; fiery and full of heart.

She took the scarf out of the box and ran her fingers over the material. It felt so soft and warm. "How did you…?"

"I had it custom made… Sent in a picture to a website, it was nothing really…"

Yang wrapped the scarf around her neck and smiled. "I love it," she said pulling Blake into a hug.

Blake embraced her back wholeheartedly. She could feel Yang's warmth through the cotton of her t-shirt, and her breath against her neck. Yang held her tightly in a real hug, chest to chest, not one of those fake hugs where there were miles of space in between.

Yang was bit taller than Blake so she had to lean in a bit to rest her head against her shoulder. She closed her eyes, trying to take in every detail of the moment. She couldn't get over how right it felt, with the tips of her hair brushing against her cheek, and the sweet floral scent of her shampoo filling her nose. Yang kept on thinking, _this was how it should be._

Blake was the one to pull away first, gradually breaking contact by sliding her hands down Yang's arms and squeezing her palms briefly before letting go. They had far exceeded the time length of a 'normal' hug and Yang's family would be looking for her soon.

"I'd better get going."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? Uncle Qrow was just about to break out the Pictionary set, it's pretty funny. He always finds a way to make the game dirty."

"Thanks, but I should get back. Tukson is home for the holidays and I don't want to leave him alone today."

Yang nodded in understanding and smiled. "Merry Christmas, Blake."

"Merry Christmas, Yang"

With one last glance and a smile, Blake took her gift and left. Yang patted the scarf around her neck and inhaled deeply. It smelled like Blake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!


	12. Cracks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late! Sorry for the delay, I had to do a lot of planning for this chapter.

"Hey Weiss, can Ruby spend the night at your place?"

There was a pause and Yang nervously fiddled with the phone cord.

"I guess that would be okay… Is everything alright?"

Yang winced at the sound of the door slamming.

"Everything's fine. I just got this big math exam tomorrow and I could use some peace and quiet to study. You know how hyper Ruby can get."

A weak groan came from the entry way as her father tripped and fell down on his face, stinking drunk. Junior had called earlier to warn her. At least he had taken a cab this time.

"So can she stay over?"

"Sure," Weiss said hesitantly.

"Great, I'll drop her off in a bit."

Yang had just managed to haul him to his bedroom before Ruby popped out of their room with her head phones on.

"Is dad home? I thought I heard something."

"Yeah, he's just a little tired," Yang said closing the door. "Hey, I just got off the phone with Weiss and guess who wants a slumber party?"

"Tonight? That was sudden," Ruby said.

Yang shrugged. "I guess she just missed snuggling with you, y'know, like at the party," she teased.

"Yang!" Ruby turned beet red in the face. "I… W-we just fell asleep on the couch…" she mumbled in her defense.

"Alright, so hurry up and pack a bag. We're leaving soon."

Yang breathed a sigh of relief when she got back to the apartment after dropping Ruby off. Ruby looked confused when she told her she wasn't staying over with her. Yang could see the suspicion in her face as she drove away, but it had to be done. She didn't want her little sister around when she would be checking on their dad to make sure he didn't choke on his own vomit while he was sleeping.

Their father's drinking had gotten worse over the last month. February was a tough time for all of them every year. It was some horrible stroke of irony that Summer died the week of Valentine's day.

It was a domestic dispute. A man was holding his wife and 7 year old son hostage in their home with a gun. Summer was there on duty, just on the verge of talking the man down when he suddenly snapped, turning the gun on his wife who was clutching their son, scared out of their minds. Summer jumped in front of them at the last second.

The wife and child survived but Summer didn't. Taiyang was sitting at a table for two at their favourite restaurant, waiting for her to show up for their belated Valentine's date when he got the news. He was never the same again.

The tears flowed non-stop for weeks. It was the worst time in their lives. The pain in their hearts never stopped. The sharp tearing edges had dulled over time but the ache never went away.

* * *

Blake stared bleary eyed at the red digits of her alarm clock as beeped incessantly to wake her up. 7:00 am. Winter was slowly giving up its grip and the days were getting longer but it was still dark outside the blinds when she woke up.

Reluctantly, she got out from under the covers and started trudging to the bathroom, passing by the calendar pinned to her wall. She paused. It was March now, and the 24th was circled in red marker with the words "Court Date" underneath.

It had seemed so far away at first, but the day she would have to face _him_ again was just a few weeks away. Blake's stomach turned at the thought. Images of flames and the acrid smell of gasoline assailed her all at once and she felt like she could be sick.

She shook her head vigorously and it went away as quickly as it came. Blake had practiced doing that a lot, keeping things compartmentalized, locked away in certain places of her brain. She had to. It was the only way she could even remotely function. Purposefully trying to keep her mind blank, Blake continued to the bathroom and started brushing her teeth.

When Blake walked into English class, she found Yang sound asleep with her head down on the desk. She sat down on the desk beside her and nudged her lightly on the arm.

"Hey," she said softly. "Class is about to start."

Yang sat up suddenly "I'm awake!"

A few students turned in their seats to look at her and there were a few snickers.

Yang rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Heh, I guess I dozed off," she said to Blake who was looking at her closely.

Blake took in the blonde's appearance. She looked completely exhausted with dark circles under her eyes. When she thought about it, she realized that Yang had been looking like that more and more over the past month.

"Is everything-" Blake started to ask.

The teacher walked in at that moment and told everyone to turn to page 20 in a loud voice.

Yang smiled half-heartedly at Blake and turned her attention to her book.

After class, Yang tried to make a quick exit but Blake grabbed her by the wrist before she could leave.

"W-what's up, Blake?"

"Are you okay?"

"Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem so tired lately… Is it… Is it your dad…"

Yang placed her hand firmly over Blake's. _Not here_ , her eyes pleaded.

They went outside and started walking around the school grounds with no particular destination in mind. The smell of wet pavement and melting snow was in the air, the unmistakable scent of spring. Yang fiddled with her orange scarf as she walked, the one Blake gave to her for Christmas. It looked good on her, flowing over the yellow and black leather of her motorcycle jacket.

Blake walked along beside her with her hands in her pockets, waiting patiently for her to speak first.

Yang took in a long deep breath. "It's been a bad month…"

Blake nodded, prompting her to continue.

"February was when my mom passed away… It's always been a tough time for all of us. My dad's been drinking a lot more lately."

Blake looked at Yang, really looked at her. She had a hollow expression on her face, and the usual brightness in her eyes seemed dimmer. She looked so worn out like she could fall over at any moment. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair that Yang had to deal with all this, taking care of her little sister and her alcoholic father.

"You… You can't keep doing this on your own, Yang." Blake was worried. It was an alien feeling for her, having someone she cared enough for to worry about. "You need help, maybe you could talk to someone, a counselor-"

Yang stopped walking, and looked into her eyes. "No."

Blake shrank back but shook her head. The thought of Yang breaking from all the pressure and the light in her eyes getting snuffed out... It scared her. "But Yang-"

Yang grabbed Blake's hand and pressed the back of it to her chest. "No," she said again seriously. "I'm not going to let my family fall apart again like it did when Mom died. Ruby can't go through that again. Promise me, Blake. Promise you won't say anything."

Yang lilac eyes bore so intensely into Blake's that she relented and said, "O-okay… I won't."

After a long moment, Yang let go of Blake's hand. She ran her fingers nervously through her hair and tried to smile reassuringly.

"We'll be fine."

Blake didn't say anything in response, just tried unsuccessfully to believe her.

* * *

A week later, Yang, Weiss and Blake were standing in the gymnasium at the school's annual science fair. Ruby had her engineering project on display, a fully motorized robot arm. She had been keeping the project a secret for weeks, sneaking off to work on it in the shop whenever she could.

Yang bent over with her hands on her knees to take a closer look. She watched in awe as the small gears turned along the joints and curled the hand attachment into a fist. Yang couldn't have been more proud.

"It's amazing Ruby… How does it work?"

"I connected all the servo motors to this new type of microprocessor board and programmed it to move like a real hand. I think I can use the same type gears like these when make my sniper scythe."

"God help us all," Weiss chuckled dryly. "But seriously Ruby, it's amazing. How long did it take you to build this?"

"About 4 weeks, give or take." Ruby glanced around. "Is dad coming?"

Yang's smile faltered. "He said he might be a bit late… He'll be here though."

Ruby nodded and smiled earnestly. "I should head up to the stage now. I'm a finalist and they'll be giving out the prizes soon."

"Alright sis, knock'em dead."

"Good luck, Ruby," Blake said.

Blake looked at Yang with a sidelong glance, watching her pull out her phone the minute Ruby was gone.

Yang quickly scanned the unanswered messages she had sent to her father:

+ _Where are you?_ +

+ _Ruby's project is on display_ +

+ _They're giving out the prizes soon_ +

+ _She worked so hard…_ _You said you'd be here_ +

Yang made a sound of frustration and made her way with Blake and Weiss to the crowd that was gathering around the stage.

Just like she thought, Ruby won first prize. Yang took a bunch of pictures with her phone of Principle Ozpin giving her the trophy and a $2000 scholarship check. Ruby picked out Yang in the crowd and waved at her. Yang thought she could see a flash of disappointment in her eyes when she noticed their dad wasn't there. It broke her heart.

"There's my pint sized little genius," Yang said as Ruby descended down the stairs. "I knew you would win," she said ruffling her hair.

Ruby laughed and waved her off. "Thanks sis… So where's dad?"

"He, uh… Something came up at work, and he couldn't make it." Yang felt like there was sand in her mouth.

"Oh."

And it was that word, in that small resigned voice, sad but unsurprised that set off an avalanche of emotions inside of her.

Yang's face fell suddenly. "I got to go," she said before she ran off towards the exit.

Blake looked apologetically at Ruby and went after her.

The air was cool on Yang's face when she pushed through the steel double doors of the gym. She felt like she was suffocating, like everything was closing in on her. She kept on running, toward the empty park until she was out of breath. Yang leaned her hands against a large oak tree, her body still shaking and tears stinging her eyes. She heard someone cautiously approaching her and from the softness in their steps, she knew who it was without turning around.

"I keep on making excuses for him…" she whispered sadly. "And he couldn't even show up for one lousy thing?"

"Yang…" Blake said.

"What an asshole!" Yang's fist shot out into the tree trunk and the bark splintered from the impact. "I can't. I can't. I can't keep doing this…" Yang sobbed.

Her breaths started coming out in high pitch gasps. It felt like she couldn't get enough air no matter how hard she tried. She was hyperventilating.

Blake lunged forward and put her arms around her from behind, hugging her as tightly as she could. "Yang, calm down!"

Yang stilled and slowly, she was able to take some deeper breaths as she focused on Blake's touch. Blake was there for her, warm and real in her lowest moment. In a flash of impulse, Yang turned around in Blake's embrace and firmly pressed her lips to hers in a rough kiss.

Blake's eyes widened and she froze for a split second before her body responded, hands coming forward to grab fistfuls of Yang's jacket to drag them closer together. They kissed hungrily with their heads slanted and mouths parted to get even more of each other. It was like a dam had broke, and both of them realized that this was what they wanted the whole time.

Like slow motion, Blake's mind started to catch up with what her body was doing. She was kissing Yang. Yang her best friend, Yang the kindest girl she ever met… Yang, who she could never be good enough for after all the things she did.

Blake broke away abruptly from her. They were both breathing heavily, trying to catch their breaths. Yang slowly opened her eyes from the pleasant haze she was experiencing and touched her fingers to her lips. There was a little bit of blood on the tips of her fingers, probably from an accidental nip of teeth.

Blake saw the blood and looked away in shame. She had hurt the girl.

"Wow Blake, that was…" Yang stopped talking. Something was wrong because Blake wasn't looking at her, instead staring pointedly at the ground.

Yang thought she felt Blake kiss her back but maybe it was her imagination? She looked so upset, like she was about to cry and Yang felt guilt burning in the pit of her stomach.

Yang let out a heavy sigh. "I'm an idiot… I'm so sorry, Blake. It's just… You were there, and you were so warm and close, and I…" Her voice went down to a whisper. "I've been having these feelings for a while, and when you were holding me, I thought that maybe… Maybe you felt the same way… I am such an idiot, Blake I'm so sorry!"

"Stop!" Blake couldn't take anymore. She couldn't handle Yang apologizing when she was the bad one, the one who hurt people.

"It's not you, Yang... It's me…" she said each word slowly.

Yang stared at her, looking confused.

"I'm no good…" she whispered as she took off running.


	13. Cards On the Table

Yang didn't show up for class the next day. She faked a fever, and stayed in bed so she wouldn't have to face Blake at school. It was mid-afternoon as she stared up at the bottom of Ruby's bunk, picking out patterns in the lines of her mattress.

Yang kept on asking herself why she did it. Why she kissed Blake like that, and what she meant when she said ' _I'm no good._ ' She couldn't figure it out at all. Thinking about it made her head hurt.

There was a knock at the door and Ruby came in, holding a cup of chicken noodle soup.

"Here, careful it's hot," Ruby said handing her the cup. "I figured you'd be hungry."

Yang ruffled her hair affectionately with her free hand. "Thanks, Rubes. You're such a good little sister,"

Ruby playfully batted her hand away. "I'm your only sister."

Yang sat up and blew on the hot steaming liquid. It was an unnatural shade of yellow, obviously from a can but still pretty tasty. She took a sip of the hot salty soup, relishing the comforting burn down her throat to her stomach.

Ruby sat down on the foot of the bed and played with her phone, just quietly keeping her company while Yang stared into her now empty cup. There were just a few stray noodles sticking to the bottom that she couldn't get without a spoon. It bugged her.

"Are you okay, Yang? You look kind of sad."

Yang chuckled and tried to manage a smile but it faded as quickly as it came. She set the cup down on the night stand.

"I…" Yang began slowly, looking down at her hands. "…I kissed Blake…"

Ruby's eyes widened a little. "Blake?... Like, girl Blake?"

"Yeah…"

Ruby looked slightly confused like she was working out a math problem in her head. "Was it like a friend kiss?" she asked, although she couldn't really think of a context where friends would just casually kiss each other.

Yang shook her head. "No, it was like the romantic kind… " She let out a heavy sigh. "I don't even know why I did it, Ruby. I was feeling kind of low and it just kind of happened… And now I think I've really freaked her out and things won't be the same again… She probably hates me..." A few tears dropped down to her lap as the blonde tried to blink them away.

"Shh, shh, it's okay," Ruby said wiping her tears away with her thumbs. "I don't think she hates you. I mean, how could she? You're… Yang… You're like the best person I know."

Yang let out a laugh-sob and tried to wipe away the rest of her tears. She pulled Ruby in for a hug.

"Thanks, sis. You know I love you, right?"

Ruby hugged her back. "Duh! Why else would you embarrass me this much?"

The blonde laughed and playfully punched Ruby in the arm.

* * *

Blake stared forlornly at her cup of tea as she sat at the kitchen table, absentmindedly running her finger around the rim. Yang wasn't at school today. It looked like she had the same idea as her. Blake would have skipped her classes as well if Tukson wasn't home from assignment.

Tukson was currently sitting at the table reading a newspaper in the fading evening light. Blake appreciated how he didn't try to make light conversation. When he was home, he mostly left her alone to do her own thing and that worked out just fine with her. But this time, he decided to say something,

"Are you alright Blake? You seem a little down."

"I'm always down…"

"Okay, a little more down than usual then," Tukson clarified. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

He eyed her questioningly. Blake sighed.

"Do you think…?" she started. "Do you think people can ever really change?"

Tukson let out slow exhale. "Most people? No."

Blake's shoulders sagged at his words.

"But some do," he continued, getting a wistful look in his eye. "I knew your mother when we were growing up. She had a stubborn streak a mile wide… Couldn't see anyone else's point of view when she had her mind set on something." Tukson then smiled. "And then she met your father… Heh and the rest, they say is history."

"Tell me about them," Blake said suddenly.

Tukson eyed her closely. Blake had never asked about her parents before and he wondered why she was asking about them now. Where to begin? "Well… Your father was councilor for the city and your mother was a journalist working for the LA times. They were good people. They always fought for the people who couldn't fight for themselves and gave a voice to the people who were forgotten by society."

Blake tried to imagine them, she had heard that Ghira and Kali Belladonna had done some work for the community but honestly she didn't give it much thought, to her they were just gone.

"But most of all…" Tukson said, catching Blake's attention. "They loved you… You were the light of their lives. They adored you from the moment you were born, every second of every day…"

Blake closed her eyes. A distant, blurred-out memory started crystallizing in her head. She could almost see the blue sky, hear her father's deep voice, feel her mother's firm hug, holding her tightly, letting her know that safe and loved.

Blake slowly opened her eyes. She felt lighter somehow. "Thank you," she whispered.

Tukson looked a little misty eyed, something Blake didn't expect from the tough military man. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner, get you out of that place earlier," he said, his voice heavy with shame.

Blake shrugged. She was so young when she lost them that it was hard to imagine what life could have been like under different circumstances. How could you miss something that you've never experienced? There was something more pressing on her mind though.

"Do you think…" Blake started in a small voice. "Do you think they would be proud of me?"

"Of course they would!" Tukson replied instantly, rocking the table with his palms and startling Blake with the fervency of his words.

"But all the things I've done… The fire…"

"It wasn't your fault."

"I was there!" Blake insisted, raising her voice.

"You didn't do it."

"Yeah because I chickened out at the last minute! I'm a coward, I'm just as guilty as them."

The chair abruptly screeched as Tukson got up from the table and put his arms around Blake's shaking frame.

"No, Blake," he said firmly. "You're not like them…"

Blake tried but she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She sobbed quietly into her hands. Tukson just held her, silent and steadfast.

* * *

It was Sunday morning when Yang got the text:

- _Can we talk?_ -

It was the text Yang was dreading all weekend, the one where Blake and her would have to talk about what happened. She seriously considered not answering so she could delay it for another day, but she knew she couldn't hide forever.

Yang replied:

+ _Sure_ +

- _Meet me at the park by the swings. I'll be there_ -

Yang sighed and rolled out of bed. She felt an air of finality as she was getting dressed, like something was about to end. It made her nervous and uneasy.

It didn't take long for her to walk to the park, Blake was already there sitting on a bench facing the swings. Yang saw the corners of Blake's mouth twitch upward ever so slightly when she saw her coming, but her expression quickly turned anxious as she got closer.

Yang sat down beside her, careful not to sit too close and freak her out again. God, what was she thinking when she kissed her like that. Her tongue felt heavy, like it was a couple sizes too big for mouth. She didn't know what to say. Should she apologize? Pretend that it never happened? Laugh it off like it didn't mean anything to her? But she didn't want _that_. Not. At. All.

After a long silence, Blake turned and opened her mouth to speak, "Yang-"

"Are you breaking up with me?" Yang blurted out. Her voice sounded higher than she anticipated and she wasn't even sure if that was the correct term for… Whatever type of relationship they had, but she couldn't stand the thought of losing Blake as friend and not having her in her life anymore.

Blake smiled sadly at her. "No... I… I like you Yang, I really do…"

Yang felt her heart surge with joy, but promptly felt it sink when she heard the word,

"But…"

Yang looked anxiously up at Blake.

"There are some things you need to know about me before we…" She tried to find the right words. "…Go any further… And you have to promise to let me finish before you say anything."

Yang frowned but nodded dutifully.

"I grew up in South Gate… In a few foster homes. The people who ran them, they tried, I supposed, but it was mostly about keeping a roof over our heads and making sure we didn't starve. That was it… There were other kids there, most of them came and left, but some of us were lucky enough to stick together through all the transfers. We were like this little gang of misfits, always getting into trouble…" Blake said with a small smile.

Yang smiled back reflexively.

"When I was sixteen, me and a couple others thought it'd be cool to runaway. It's not like our foster parents cared very much, they still got the checks every month from the government. I don't think they even noticed, to be honest." Blake paused and glanced away, looking a little shameful for the first time in the conversation. "We survived by pick pocketing. People's wallets mostly, and shoplifting at department stores. We met other street kids and we helped each other out, almost like a real family…"

Blake's expression became more serious. "Then we met Adam… He was older than us, in his twenties. He'd give us money and let us crash at his apartment sometimes. I didn't know at the time that he was part of a gang. They called themselves the White Fang, god it sounds so stupid now," Blake said wistfully.

"Adam organized us so we could take more cash in. Eventually we started doing other things, like threatening and assaulting people who got in our way. He was so angry…" Blake whispered. "He hated the Schnee Mining Company. His dad worked at their Nevada desert mine and he was killed when one of the shafts collapsed. He said the company was run by rich bastards who didn't give a shit about people like us, the working class… I believed him…"

Yang shuddered at the bitterness in Blake's voice.

"We started vandalizing company property. At first it was just tossing bricks through windows and spray painting graffiti on the walls but then it escalated. We started setting company trucks on fire and one night, Adam decided he wanted to set a warehouse on fire."

A short gasp escaped Yang's lips.

Blake started again, sounding empty and detached. "I… I didn't really want to do it. I told Adam that I hated the smell of gasoline and he let me be the lookout that night. I watched them break in and splash gasoline around the main floor... I watched them set the building on fire…" Blake's voice started to crack. "It was supposed to be empty… Adam said it would be empty…"

Blake's eyes welled up with tears and they silently rolled down her face. It took all of Yang's self control to not reach out and embrace her right then and there. Part of her didn't want to hear what happened next but she knew she had to let Blake continue.

"But someone _was_ there…" Blake said shakily, barely able to speak. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand but new ones instantly came out to replace them. "A janitor working the night shift. A working class person like we claimed to be!" she cried shamefully.

Yang looked at Blake compassionately, shaking her head. It was like she could feel Blake breaking apart. This confession was hurting her and Yang couldn't stand seeing her in so much pain.

"We heard him yelling for help from outside and Adam said to just leave him there, said he was 'collateral damage for the greater cause'. He was such a monster… I couldn't, I couldn't… I called 911… and… and…"

Yang yanked her into a hug. "Shhh, that's enough. That's enough." Tears prickled at her eyes as Blake sobbed into her chest. She held her for a long time without saying anything.

Eventually Blake's sobs slowed. "I'm a horrible person…" she hiccupped.

"No." Yang gently pulled away to hold Blake at arm's length she could look at her. "You made a mistake… That doesn't make you a bad person."

Blake shook her head vigorously. "But I am, Yang!" she cried. "I don't, I don't deserve this, I don't deserve you…" she whispered inaudibly.

"That's not true… You're not that person anymore… You're kind, caring and brave. You've been there for me this whole time. I don't know what I'd do without you… I… I…" Yang couldn't get the words out. She decided to show Blake instead.

Yang slowly leaned in and carefully pressed her lips to Blake's. She closed her eyes and her own tears fell onto Blake's cheeks, intermingling with the tears she had cried earlier. Yang kissed her softly and gently, moving her lips against Blake's with barely any pressure. She pulled away after a few short seconds and held her breath, searching deeply into Blake's eyes for any sort of reaction.

Blake stared back with widened eyes and her mouth slightly parted. She couldn't believe Yang still wanted to be with her after everything she had told her.

There were tears in Yang's eyes and her face was flushed. In the split second of silence between them, Yang looked terrified that she had done the wrong thing, but something hopeful deep down in Blake's chest told her it wasn't wrong. It was right.

Blake's gaze flitted down to Yang's mouth and she leaned in, the tips of their noses grazing as she tentatively touched their lips together. She heard Yang's surprised gasp as she kissed her. Vanilla Chapstick and the scent of orange blossoms filled her nose. It was wonderful.

Blake had always rolled her eyes when kisses were described like fireworks going off in the trashy novels she read. She never believed that they could feel so earth shattering, especially from her previous limited experience.

But with the beats of their hearts thudding in time together against their chests, their lips moving and parting in perfect harmony with one another's, the space between them melting away with each passing second, her entire sensory perception, touch, taste and smell filled with everything Yang…

_Yeah…_

_Fireworks…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts - John Legend


	14. Road Trip

They broke away slowly, their lips connecting again and again, soft and lingering before they finally stopped.

Yang smiled with her hands still cupped around Blake's face.

Blake gently clasped her hands and brought them down to her lap and focused her gaze on them.

"Was that… Was that okay?" Yang asked, sounding nervous.

Blake blushed, and smiled shyly. "It was more than okay…"

Yang looked elated. "Wow…" she whispered. "So what happens now?"

"I don't know… I've never felt like this before…"

"Me either…" Yang murmured.

"Yang, I need to know," Blake said seriously. "Are you sure? Are you sure you want to do this-"

"I'm sure, Blake." Yang tucked a strand of hair behind Blake's ear and tilted chin so she was looking at her. "I… I want to be with you."

"But my life is so complicated. I have so much baggage and-"

"I don't care," Yang said, shaking her head. "I meant what I said. I want to be with you no matter what." She laced their fingers together and squeezed. "Do you want to be with me?" Yang asked in an almost timid voice.

"I do…"

"Then that's all that matters. Whatever happens we can handle it together."

"Yang…" Blake searched her face for any signs of doubt. There were none, Yang was so sure of herself, a trait Blake always admired. She desperately wanted to believe her and find the same certainty within herself. "It's just… Adam's trial is coming up… And I'll have to testify. The man who was in the building, he's still recovering in the burn unit… The others from that night refused to say anything. I'm the only one who was willing to testify…"

Yang slipped an arm around Blake's shoulders and pulled her in close, tucking her head under her chin. "When?"

"The 24th… If Adam doesn't get convicted, I think he'll come after me or do something-"

"That won't happen."

"But what if it does?"

Yang's grip tightened around Blake protectively. "Let him try..."

* * *

Yang was waiting outside the apartment in the early morning light when a Range Rover pulled up to the curb. It was six am. Yang stifled a yawn as she adjusted the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. Blake stepped out of the car and her amber eyes immediately sought Yang's, looking for any trace of second thoughts.

Yang remembered how nervous Blake was when she shyly asked her to accompany her to LA for the trial. She was surprised she even felt the need to ask. To Yang, it was a non-issue. _Of course._ Of course she would go with her.

Yang smiled softly at her and after a few hesitant seconds, Blake smiled back. A gruff clearing of throat interrupted their silent conversation. Tukson stepped out of the driver's seat and walked around with his hands in his pockets.

"This is Yang. My…" Blake chewed on her words. Was it too early to call Yang her girlfriend? They hadn't even gone on a date yet. It was all so new. She was afraid that not introducing Yang as her girlfriend would hurt her feelings, but she didn't want to have _that talk_ with Tukson when tonight they would be in the same hotel room. She settled for part of the truth. "My best friend."

"Hi! Mr… Um… Tukson." Yang realized in the middle of her disjointed greeting that she has no idea what Tukson's last name is.

"Tukson's fine," he replied with an amused grin. "Here, let me take your bag."

Blake shot her a mildly reproachful look. _Mr. Tukson, really?_

Yang shrugged. _What?_ She was about to open the door to the back seat when Blake opened it and slid in.

"What?" Blake asked when Yang didn't get in.

"Nothing, I just thought you were going to ride shotgun," Yang said, snapping out of it and sliding in next to her.

Tukson now relegated to chauffeur status got into the driver's seat and waited until they had their seatbelts on before driving away.

He pulled onto the I-5 South. It was going to be a long 15 hour drive. It would definitely not be as scenic as the coastal 101 route, mostly shades of grey, concrete and steel but Blake knew that this trip wasn't meant to be fun.

Blake sighed and stared out the window, watching the guardrails fly by in one continuous blur. She was reminded of the drive months ago, heading in the opposite direction. Her and Tukson staring straight ahead at the road, barely a word exchanged between the two of them.

It was a blur what happened after she snuck away to call 911. Adam was still admiring his handiwork, watching the smoke and flames rise higher into the night sky. Blake felt sick to her stomach as the painful cries of the janitor became less frequent.

Thankfully the fire department arrived along with the police. Adam and the rest of the gang scattered off like flies, but Blake stood frozen on the spot. They didn't get very far, most of them getting caught within minutes of running.

Blake remembered vividly the look of betrayal on Adam's face when they finally caught and took him away. He knew it was her.

Blake got taken away too, handcuffed and brought to the police station where she was fingerprinted and had her photograph taken. She remembered shivering as she sat on the hard plastic bench, scared to death that she would be going to jail.

That night Tukson was at the police station filling out a report. Someone had broken into his vehicle and stolen the stereo. He glanced in Blake's direction and did a double take.

_"Kali?" he asked striding over, completely forgetting about his report._

_Blake vaguely recognized that name from her past. She hadn't thought about her biological parents in so long. Kali was the name of her late mother. She stared dubiously up at the stranger standing over her who looked like he had just seen a ghost._

_Tukson caught himself after a few seconds. "Sorry. You looked like someone I used to know… Are you related to Kali Belladonna?"_

_Blake was silent for a long moment before answering. "She was my mother. She died in a car crash long ago." It was a practiced response._

And that's how it all started. Tukson said he knew her parents long ago and he asked her a million questions about her life. The timing was awkward considering she was about to be charged with arson and possibly a whole host of other crimes.

Tukson stayed for as long as he could until Blake was finally called in for questioning. He said he had to leave but that'd he back. Blake didn't think that she'd actually see him again but despite her doubts, Tukson _did_ come back.

To prove that he knew her parents, he showed her an old college photo of the three of them together. They looked happy, smiling into the camera like old friends.

He stayed during the arraignment and afterward when she was released to the custody of her foster parents until her hearing in juvenile court. Blake kept expecting him to leave but he stuck around for weeks. For some strange reason that Blake couldn't comprehend, Tukson seemed to genuinely care about her. He helped her get an attorney who got the charges dropped arguing that it was her first offence and she was the one who had called for help.

When the charges were dropped, it was like a weight had been lifted off of Blake's shoulders. She was relieved but also a little sad that it would be her last interaction with Tukson. But to her utter shock and amazement, it wasn't the end. He had applied to become her legal guardian to take her out of the foster system. Blake still couldn't quite believe it even to this day.

* * *

Two hours on the road and it was officially the quietest trip Yang had ever been on. _Boring._ She glanced over at Blake who was silently staring out the window. She took a quick glance at Tukson who was concentrated on the road and then slowly started to inch her pinky finger towards the dark haired girl's hand.

Blake looked over with a start when their little fingers touched. Yang was trying to look discreet, averting her gaze, looking at the car ceiling, out the window, anywhere but her. She smiled at Yang's antics and grabbed her hand fully, squeezing tight.

The blonde finally looked over, blushing a little. "You seem so far away."

"Just thinking…"

"About?"

"About the first time I was on this road. It was kind of a shitty time in my life." Blake saw Tukson glance at her in the rear view mirror. "But... Also good in some ways…" she conceded. "Like getting a fresh start. I'm pretty lucky with the way things turned out," she said catching Tukson's eye in the mirror.

Yang nodded sympathetically and squeezed her hand back.

* * *

"Let's take a selfie,"

"What?"

"A selfie, surely you are familiar with the term," Yang said getting out her phone and sitting beside her on the picnic table bench. "It's our first road trip together."

Blake just sat there and stared at her, holding her plastic bottle of water. They were just outside Redding, having bathroom break at a truck stop. It wasn't anything special, just a few mountains and trees in the background.

"C'mon. It'll be nice."

Blake was about to say no, considering the purpose of the trip but Yang's persistent smile won her over. She begrudgingly scooted closer to the blonde and managed a small smile as Yang put her arm around her and snapped the picture.

Yang happily studied the screen of her phone. Blake took a glance as well. She thought she looked a bit too serious looking into the camera, her mouth curved in the barest hint of smile that didn't truly convey the amount of happiness she felt just being near Yang. The blonde, on the other hand, looked beautiful. The shades of purple in her eyes shimmering like a lavender lake on a sunny afternoon. Only one word came to Blake's mind: _Lucky_.

They got into LA around 10:30 pm, road weary and bone tired. They checked and filed down the hotel hallway with their bags in tow. Tukson told them to be ready at zero seven hundred hours sharp and went into his own room, yawning as he said goodnight.

Blake and Yang opened the door to their hotel room and went inside, their eyes gradually adjusting to the dark.

Yang turned on the lamp and plopped face first on top of one of the room's two double beds.

"I am so tired!" she groaned.

Blake sat on the edge of the other bed and plugged her phone into the outlet, double checking that her alarm was set for six am. She was pretty tired from the drive as well but she wasn't sure that she'd be able to sleep tonight. There was so much riding on tomorrow. She thought maybe she should prepare more, re-read the notes her lawyer sent her so she wouldn't incriminate herself, iron the business casual clothes-

"Blake, you're getting quiet again," Yang said looking up with her with her chin resting on her forearms.

"Sorry, just getting nervous."

"You'll be fine. You should probably get some sleep now, it'll be a pretty early start tomorrow."

Blake nodded and started pulling out her sleep clothes from the bag. Yang did the same, taking off her jacket and crossing her arms to pull the hem of her T-shirt up.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Blake sputtered.

Yang stopped midway, shirt half off with her toned stomach showing. "Oops, sorry. I guess I'm so used to changing in locker rooms with other people around, heh…" She looked down awkwardly. "I'll change in the bathroom…"

"No, you don't have to. It just surprised me…" Blake chastised herself for being such a prude, they were together after all. To make up for it, Blake turned around and took off her own shirt. She thought she could feel Yang's eyes heating up her bare back before the blonde also continued changing.

Blake slowly turned around when she was done. They were both wearing cotton T-shirts and shorts for bed. She shyly looked down at her feet as Yang smiled softly at her, making sure she was okay.

Blake wondered anxiously about what they should do next. Should they kiss goodnight? She honestly wasn't in the mood for kissing, feeling way too nervous about tomorrow but she felt like she should at least do something to show Yang how thankful she was to have her here with her.

"Well… Goodnight," With a determined look in her eyes she walked up to Yang and threw her arms around her neck, tangling her fingers in her blonde hair as she pressed her face into her neck.

Yang was surprised at first but quickly hugged her back. "Goodnight," she whispered in her ear.

They pulled away after moment and went to their respective beds. The beds were only separated by a couple of sparse feet, but the distance felt far to Blake as she slipped under the covers and faced the opposite wall.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Yang heard Blake tossing and turning in the dark.

"Blake?"

Yang heard a whimper and without another word, she threw the duvet aside and made her way to Blake's bed. It looked like she was having a nightmare, her were eyes tightly shut and she was trembling under the bed sheets.

Yang lightly touched her arm. "Blake, wake up. You're having a nightmare."

Blake opened her eyes suddenly and her hand sprang out to grab Yang's bicep. Her chest was heaving and it took her a few moments to realize where she was.

Yang stroked her hair soothingly. "It was just a dream."

"Sorry… Sorry I woke you up."

Yang shook her head, and held her close. "It's okay."

They stayed like that for a while, Yang holding her and kissing the top of her head every once in a while.

Blake hugged her tighter. "Yang?" Part of her hated asking. "Would you mind… Staying with me tonight?"

Yang pulled away a bit to look her in the eyes. "Of course."

Blake made room for her on her bed and Yang slipped in behind her, pressing her front against her back and their legs together. She hesitantly draped an arm over her midsection.

"Is this okay?"

Blake nodded, taking her hand and clutching it to her chest.

They lay together for a while not talking but not sleeping either. Blake savored the feeling of being in her warmth.

"Sorry I'm being such a baby," Blake mumbled.

"Shhh, you're not a baby. I let Ruby sleep with me when she has a nightmare... And my mom Summer used to let me sleep with her whenever I had a bad dream."

A comfortable silence passed between them.

"Do you miss her?"

Yang paused before answering, "Every day."

Blake laced their fingers together and gave her hand a squeeze, letting Yang know that she was there for her too. She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.


	15. Facing Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've received a couple of questions about which Portland I am referring to. It is Portland, Oregon. I think it is a cool city and thought it would be kind of like Remnant's Vale.

The alarm went off and Blake and Yang both jerked awake, bleary eyed with their limbs still tangled together. Blake had forgotten she was in the same bed as Yang and almost elbowed the blonde in the jaw.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked, trying to smooth the blonde messy bangs from her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yang said, trying to avert her eyes from the smooth strip of skin showing when Blake's T-shirt had ridden up during the scuffle.

"I'd better shower," Blake said.

Yang nodded and watched as Blake made her way to the bathroom, letting out a deep breath when the door closed. _Think appropriate thoughts_ , she told herself.

* * *

The white stone facade of the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse was stark and gloomy against the blue backdrop of the sky. Blake looked up at the statue of Justice and the two figures flanking her representing the Law, Truth and Light. Lady Justice wasn't blind in this version, a stern expression on her face and her hand resting on the sword as she stood in front of the scales. She shivered slightly in the thin black blazer and skirt she was wearing, but it was not from the cool morning breeze.

After checking in at the clerk's desk, the three of them sat on a wooden bench, waiting to be called in. Blake was hunched over, feeling sick to her stomach with nerves. In just another half hour, she would have to face _him_. Yang noticed her dismay and rubbed her back sympathetically.

Finally the bailiff called her in. "Miss Belladonna?"

Blake hesitantly stood up, trying to push down the bile in her throat.

The bailiff motioned her to enter the courtroom. Just inside the doors, Yang pulled her into a hug, Blake closing her eyes and leaning into it as she wrapped her arms around her.

"I'll be right here."

Blake nodded and whispered a quiet thanks.

Her heels clacked on the polished concrete floor as she made her way to the witness stand where she was sworn in. She fidgeted on the hard plastic roll-out chair, finding the seat uncomfortable no matter which way she sat. Blake was starting to wonder why it was taking so long when she saw him.

Time froze and her heart stopped. Adam looked the same as when she last saw him, but harder somehow, his face more drawn, and a new tattoo on his forearm. He still had the same crimson red hair and intense dark red-brown eyes, the same defiance even in hand cuffs.

Adam stared directly at Blake and smirked. Months seemed to melt away in seconds and all of a sudden she was back there by the burning building, back there in that dark apartment, feeling ashamed and afraid.

Blake took a deep breath to compose herself. She was determined to prove that she wasn't that lost girl anymore.

The prosecutor was a young man in his thirties. He was gentle when he asked Blake to recount the events of that night and she proceeded to tell the court a shortened version of what she had told Yang about that awful night.

"And that's what happened," she said, finishing her story.

"Thank you Miss Belladonna."

The prosecutor took his seat and Adam's defense attorney Mr. Stevens stood up, buttoning his suit jacket and strolling around the table. He was an older man, balding with grey in the sides of his hair. He looked at Blake carefully, like he was sizing her up before he began speaking.

"You were in relationship with Mr. Taurus were you not?"

Blake stared at the defense attorney. "…I… I don't see what that has to do with anything..."

"Her relationship to the defendant is relevant to this case your honor. It could speak to a possible motivation to lie."

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn. You and Mr. Taurus were close weren't you?"

Blake stared ahead. She could see Yang furrowing her brow at his question.

Unwittingly, Blake's thoughts took her back to the first time she met him...

* * *

It was a cold dark starless night. She was rummaging through the dumpster in the back alley of a restaurant, trying to salvage something to eat.

Blake was alone that night. The foster siblings she ran away with couldn't stand the empty stomachs and cold nights any longer. They had chosen to go back to the foster home, but Blake with her stubborn heart refused to go back. She'd rather starve than play nice with her fake parents.

When she had finally come across a trash bag containing something edible, she heard a group of people conversing in low voices. She peered over the dumpster and saw a man with flaming red dyed hair talking to two other men wearing dark jackets. Blake's arm accidentally bumped into the pole propping the lid up and it suddenly clanged shut. The men looked right at her and she froze for a moment. She tried to run away but one of the men grabbed her.

"Well look what we have here!" He held her jaw with his thumb and forefinger, appraising her with his eyes.

"Stop," a deep commanding voice said. It was the man with the red hair.

To Blake's surprise, he did stop, letting her go and shoving her towards the redheaded man.

"I think our business is done here. We'll talk again soon," he said.

Blake looked up at him, afraid he would try to hurt her but he didn't, just looked at her intensely as he reached out to softly stroke her hair.

He said his name was Adam Taurus. Blake thought he was good looking in a rugged sort of way. He had a scar over his ear on the side of his head that went to his cheek bone. He brought her dinner that night from a 24 hour diner, and gave her his number to contact him if she ever needed anything. Blake considered tossing his number in the garbage, but there was something dangerous about him that attracted her.

A few days later she called him.

He taught her things, ways to survive. Adam said he was in the foster system too for a period of time when his dad died, and his mom couldn't take care of him. He let her crash at his apartment, gave her her first taste of alcohol, rolled her her first joint.

Blake learned Adam was the leader of a gang. Nothing major, just a few small time thieves and drug runners. He let her tag along when he found out how quiet she could be. She was useful as a look out and an even better thief, able to slip in out of people's houses without detection. Eventually she worked her way up, until she was his second in command, his confidant. She felt a profound sense of power that scared and thrilled her at the same time.

When they were alone, he looked at her with dark mysterious eyes and smiles. One day he kissed her. He tasted like cigarettes and whiskey. Blake let it happen. She didn't question it. He was cool. He was strong. He knew how to take care of himself. She remembered the things he whispered in her ear when they were drunk or stoned, he told her she was beautiful and that she was everything he could ever need. He made her believe that they could change the world. For the first time in her life, Blake felt safe and wanted.

It happened gradually, at slow glacial pace but Adam began to change. Blake was so close to him at the time that she almost didn't notice. _Almost._ He became angrier. She remembered the time he beat a man within an inch of his life when he had questioned her ability. Blake couldn't watch, she turned away and tried to drown out the sounds of fists meeting flesh, the man's painful groans. She didn't let it show but Adam was starting to scare her.

It wasn't enough to be the leader, Adam wanted to make himself known. He started getting even more violent, ordering his people, including her, to viciously attack anyone who didn't pay up or got in his way. Blake remembered the first time she threatened someone at knife point, seeing the fear in their eyes and feeling disgusted with herself. She didn't know who she was anymore.

One time they argued, Blake telling Adam had gone way too far when he threatened a man in front of his kids. They yelled and screamed at each other. Adam said Blake just didn't have the guts to do what needed to be done. Blake said he was becoming someone she didn't recognize. She was about to storm out when Adam grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her towards him.

"Don't even think about leaving…" he said menacingly. "You're nothing without me."

He twisted her wrist until she cried out in pain, his words ringing her ears. _You're nothing without me._ Blake nodded weakly and he finally let her go. She felt like the air was slowly leaving the room. She was suffocating and she didn't know how to make it stop.

* * *

"Answer the question Miss Belladonna," the judge instructed.

Blake pinched the back of her wrist to keep her hands from shaking. "I guess…"

"Is it true he took you in? Gave you a place to stay, mentored you?"

"…Yes…"

"Did you care about Mr. Taurus?"

Blake hesitated before answering, glancing at Yang who was looking at her closely. Adam leaned forward in his chair, intent on hearing the answer as well. "Yes… I did at the time…"

"Is this how you treat someone you care about? By making him shoulder all the blame when you were a willing participant yourself?"

"Objection! Badgering!" the prosecutor exclaimed.

The whole courtroom started murmuring and the judge banged his gavel repeatedly to bring the court to order.

"Sustained. Mr. Stevens, please stick to the relevant line of questions."

"In fact, Miss Belladonna, you were a willing participant in a number of illegal activities weren't you? What makes you any less guilty than him?"

There was more murmuring, Blake could see Tukson putting a hand on Yang's shoulder to keep her from standing up. The blonde sullenly bit her lip and remained seated, seething on the inside as she glared at the defense attorney. _What an asshole_ , she thought.

Blake mumbled something inaudibly.

"What was that? I'm afraid I can't hear you." He put his hand to his ear in a mock attempt to hear better.

"I'm not any less guilty than him." Blake said in a louder voice.

The prosecutor, Tukson and Yang's eyes widened by the admission, even the defense attorney looked caught off guard.

"I've made some choices that I'm not proud of… And the outcomes of them will haunt me for the rest of my life." Her eyes filled with tears but she refused to let them fall. "The only thing I can say for myself is that I never intentionally tried to hurt anyone… Not like _him_. He wanted to let that man burn, he didn't care if he lived or died." She squared her shoulders and sat up straighter in her chair.

The defense attorney frowned. Adam looked positively livid, clenching his handcuffed fists on the table. Mr. Stevens looked at his notes a few times like he was trying to find another way to rattle Blake on the stand but she stared resolutely ahead, strong and unwavering. He knew anything she'd say would only make things worse for his client.

"No further questions, your honour."

"The court will break for a brief recess and reconvene for closing arguments," the judge announced.

Blake was finally released from the witness stand and she walked in a straight line to Yang who was waiting for her. She fell into her arms, burying her face into her shoulder.

"I'm so proud of you," Yang said, holding her tight.

The jury deliberated for a few hours and they were called back in to hear the verdict. Blake was sitting in the spectator section of the courtroom, clutching Yang's hand tightly.

Earlier, the prosecutor played an excerpt of Blake's 911 call during his closing argument; " _There is a man stuck in the burning building! He needs help!_ "

It was strange hearing herself so panicked and afraid. Blake almost didn't recognize her own voice. Bad memories flooded her mind and she hung her head down in shame. _I should have done more. I should have stopped him before it happened._ Yang squeezed her hand, letting her know she was there.

When Adam entered the court, he looked right at them, scowling at their joined hands. His lips curled into a snarl and mouthed the words, "I'll get you."

Blake didn't look away. She was done being afraid, done being controlled by him. She sat up straighter and forced the butterflies out of her stomach.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have your honour."

"On the charge of first degree arson what verdict does the jury find?

The tips of her fingers and toes went numb as she mentally prepared herself for the worst.

"Guilty."

Blake let out a long shuddering breath, one she hadn't realized she had been holding for the last six months. A wave of emotion passed through her, relief mixed with sorrow. She felt Yang pulling her into a side hug. Blake closed her eyes and let Adam go for the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These last few chapters have been pretty heavy, things will get a bit lighter soon, the title of the next chapter will be "First Date"  
> Thanks everyone who has been sticking with this story so far, I am so grateful for all the favs and follows.


	16. First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *Cracks knuckles and prepares to write fluff*

+ _Come out tonight?_ +

Blake looked at her phone and smiled at the text. The trip to LA was an emotional roller coaster for her and it had been about a week since they got back. Yang was being so patient with her, giving her space to decompress which she sincerely appreciated, but Blake was starting to miss the fiery blonde though.

- _What did you have in mind_?-

The reply came back almost instantly:

+ _It's a surprise ;)_ +

- _Well I guess I can't refuse then_ -

+ _Pick you up at 5 :)_ +

* * *

Blake could hear the hum of Yang's motorbike before she stepped outside her door. The blonde had her helmet on and was grinning up at her through her aviator sunglasses. She got off the bike and took off her leather jacket, placing it around Blake's shoulders.

"It might get a little windy."

"What about you?" Blake asked. Yang was just wearing a long sleeved yellow T-shirt and the scarf she got her Christmas.

" _I'm_ used to it." She handed her a black helmet with a red rose design. "I hope you don't mind wearing Ruby's helmet. I promise she doesn't have cooties."

Blake laughed and put the helmet on. She got on the back of the bike and hesitantly put her arms around Yang's waist. "So what do I do?" It was her first time riding on a motorcycle.

"Just hold on tight," Yang said with a wink.

Despite Yang promising her that she'd take it slower, Blake found herself desperately latched on to Yang and shutting her eyes for most of the ride. They weaved in out of traffic. Blake tried to lean in with Yang for every turn like she instructed even though it made her feel like she was about to fall. Finally they arrived at their destination downtown, Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

"Do you want your jacket back?" Blake asked as she dismounted the motorcycle.

"Nah, it looks better on you," Yang replied. And she meant it, the black and yellow leather jacket was slightly big on Blake but it hugged her in all the right places.

They started walking on the park path by the river. It was April and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom with a bright shade of pink speckling their branches. It was beautiful. The spring air smelled crisp with a hint of rain and the green scent of new growth. They walked with the sun at their back, the golden light from the late afternoon sun creating long shadows in front of them.

Yang affectionately shoulder nudged Blake, smiling as she took her hand and laced their fingers together.

Blake felt lighter as she walked, like the dark cloud hanging over had finally dissipated. She had Yang to thank for that.

"What?" Yang asked, noticing Blake was looking at her carefully.

"Nothing… You just look really pretty in the light."

Yang beamed at her and slipped her arm around her waist, pulling her close as they strolled along.

When they approached the two monuments of Friendship Circle, Blake drifted toward the steel railing and started watching the river as it went by, a roiling ebb and flow. She felt strangely comforted by the notion that the rivers would continue to flow and the world would go on no matter what terrible things happened in the past. That things could get better and there would be new opportunities to make things right. Maybe all was not lost after all.

As Blake was silently contemplating, Yang walked over and gently wrapped her arms around her shoulders from behind. Blake closed her eyes and leaned back into her, knowing Yang would never let her fall.

They stood there for a long time watching the river together until the sun started to set.

"Hungry?" Yang asked, bumping their cheek bones together.

"Starving."

They walked back to the motorcycle and went to a fifties diner that was close by. When their order arrived, Blake opened her burger and carefully pulled out the raw onion slices. She saw Yang looking at her oddly.

"I just don't want to taste onions all night," Blake explained.

Yang smiled and started pulling out the onions in her burger as well.

"Yang, you don't have to do that, I know you like them."

"Yeah but you don't. Compromise is important in a relationship," Yang said with a laugh. Truthfully, her thoughts were alight with the possibility of a kiss at the end of the night. Onion breath would be a turn-off.

Yang took a bite, humming appreciatively as she relished the rich taste of ground beef with the tangy pickles, ketchup and mustard.

"Have you… Have ever dated a girl before?" Blake asked tentatively.

"No, first time," Yang replied, taking a sip of her chocolate milkshake.

Blake quietly sipped her strawberry milkshake, remembering the time Coco and Yang kissed at the party. It seemed pretty easy for Yang to do it.

"I mean I've had crushes before but nothing… But nothing quite like this…" the blonde said, meeting her eyes briefly and blushing a little. "Have you?"

Blake shook her head. She had only been in one relationship before she met Yang.

"How's your dad doing?"

"Good," came the automatic response, but then Yang caught herself. She realized she didn't need to pretend with Blake of all people. "He's… He's drinking less lately."

They took a few bites in silence, an unpleasant tension settling around them.

"My dad's not a bad person," Yang said suddenly.

"… I know…"

"It's just that… After mom died, a part of him seemed to die too... It took him a while but he's doing a lot better now than he was before…"

Blake nodded. She was sorry she brought it up, seeing the sullen expression in Yang's eyes as she picked at her fries.

"What was she like?"

A smile came to Yang's face as she fondly remembered. "Summer? She was like super mom. Baker of cookies and slayer of giant closet monsters," she said with a chuckle. "She always gave me and Ruby so much love, even when we were bad and we didn't listen..." _Even when I wasn't her own flesh and blood_.

"She sounds like an amazing person," Blake said.

"She was... She was the best…"

They finished their meal at a comfortable pace, talking about lighter subjects; if Jaune was going to get the guts to finally ask Pyrrha to the dance, which Ivy League school Weiss was applying to, and Ruby's latest engineering project. It was around eight when they left the diner, late in the evening but too early for bed. Neither of them wanted the night to end yet.

"What do you want to do now?"

Blake shrugged. "What is there _to do_?"

Yang tapped her chin, trying to think of a place to go. As underage highschoolers, there weren't _that_ many things to do at night. She had a feeling that Blake wouldn't enjoy sneaking into a loud club with her fake ID.

"I've got it!" Yang announced suddenly.

 _Uh oh_ , Blake thought. Yang had this look in her eyes, like she was up to something, but her smile was so bold and tempting that Blake couldn't resist.

They rode to a different part of town and pulled up to a building with a red neon sign of a bowling pin.

"Bowling?" Blake asked dubiously.

"It'll be fun!"

The bowling alley was dimly lit except for the lanes, a few of them were in the dark and lit up with neon colours for glow bowling. Blake's nose wrinkled at the astringent smell of spray disinfectant and musty pine.

"Give it a chance," Yang said.

They got their footwear, flat soled and slippery bottomed with blue and red patches of leather that reminded Blake of clown shoes. They were assigned Lane 18. Yang entered their names into the rudimentary computer so it would show up on the screen above the lane. She put down 'Firecracker' for herself and Blake picked 'Blake', a safe but respectable choice.

The raven haired girl was up first. _How hard could it be,_ Blake thought as she picked up her ball and walked up to the foul line. Apparently very hard as the ball slipped off her fingers on the swing and landed backwards with a loud thud on the wooden planks. _Oops_.

Yang did her best to stifle her laughter but it was just too funny. "C'mon. Let's go pick out a different ball, one that won't slip off your bony fingers."

"They're not bony…" Blake grumbled as she followed her to the ball shelf.

Even with a ball with holes that fit her fingers better, Blake had trouble hitting even one pin, rolling gutter ball after gutter ball. Yang was definitely kicking her ass, rolling a few strikes and spares.

Blake brooded on the hard plastic bench. She didn't show it very often but she had a competitive streak. She hated to lose. The only upside of the situation was she got to watch Yang as she bowled, the way she gracefully bent her long legs in position, and how her back curved when she released the ball. She was an athlete in every sense of the word and it showed.

Luckily for Blake, halfway through the game they just stopped keeping score, grandma bowling the ball between their legs and tossing it backwards with colourful flare.

Yang whirled Blake around by the waist when she somehow got a strike without trying at all. Blake's laughter rang high and light, a sweet melodic sort of sound that Yang wanted to hear more of.

When she set her down, the effect was decidedly different than when she manhandled Ruby and her other friends. Blake had her arms around her neck and their faces were flushed, panting slightly from the exertion.

Yang thought she saw something akin to desire in Blake's eyes when her gaze flitted down to her mouth, but the raven haired girl just pulled away and smirked in a way that was both enthralling _and_ maddening. It was at that moment that Yang knew she was in trouble. She was falling hard but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

"Did you have a good time?" Yang asked as she helped Blake off the bike. They were outside her house. The night air smelled like damp grass and soil, it felt cool against her skin.

"It was wonderful."

They slowly walked to the front door, taking longer, more drawn out steps than usual. It was the end of their first date and Yang started to feel nervous with anticipation.

"Well… Goodnight…" Yang said, running a hand through her hair.

Blake smiled softly, looking deeply into her eyes.

Yang hesitated for a moment and then made up her mind as she gently cupped Blake's cheek and pressed her lips to hers in a soft kiss. Blake twined her fingers through Yang's golden hair and pulled her even closer.

The kiss was slow and measured at first. Blake thought she could feel Yang holding back ever so slightly, like she was worried about coming on too strong. She wanted Yang to stop thinking.

Experimentally, she ran the tip of her tongue across the line of Yang's lips and was rewarded with a surprised gasp that allowed her to slip her tongue fully into her mouth. It was her turn to let out a satisfied sigh when she felt Yang's tongue responding in-kind, sliding against hers in slow massaging strokes.

It wasn't their first kiss but it felt different than the two they had shared before. The first was rough and impulsive. The second was tearful and consoling. This one was full of hunger and desire and both of them craved more.

They paused every once in a while to take a quick breath but they always returned, faster and deeper than before.

Eventually they had to stop completely when the need for oxygen became too great.

Yang rested their foreheads together. "Wow…"

"Yeah…" Blake agreed as she lightly brushed her lips against Yang's, coaxing her into another long drawn out kiss.

As much as Yang wanted to keep going, she knew that they should stop or they'd be out there all night. She reluctantly pulled away. "See you tomorrow?" Yang ran her fingers over Blake's hands which were cradling her face.

Blake nodded. "Yeah… Tomorrow," she said slowly.

Yang chuckled at her breathlessness. "Goodnight, Blake."

"Goodnight, Yang."


	17. Official

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I guess I am a bit late with this update, I had some computer problems and I was a bit disappointed with the lack of response for my last chapter on the FF.net site (I love you AO3 readers and your comments). I can't really fault anyone for not leaving a review though. I read a lot of fanfics and I don't always leave a comment but I'm trying to get better, making sure that I leave a comment whenever I am deeply moved by a story. Anyways I hope people are still enjoying the story, I still got quite a few chapters to go and I'm committed to finishing.

It was just after the second period English class, morning break. Blake took a deep breath to calm herself while Yang smiled easily as they walked into the hallway hand in hand with their fingers firmly interlaced.

"Are you sure about this?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

Blake was used to being an outcast, never quite feeling like she fit in. She didn't care about what people said about her but Yang on the other hand… She didn't want anyone treating the blonde differently because they were dating. Blake even suggested that they keep their relationship a secret when they were at school but Yang vehemently disagreed; why would she want to keep something so wonderful a secret?

"Won't people talk?"

"So?"

Yang was so relaxed about it that Blake started to feel more comfortable too.

"And besides, if anyone says anything, I'll punch them out," Yang said with a wink.

Blake rolled her eyes. She didn't doubt it. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Yang walked confidently with Blake by her side. She heard a voice behind them trying to get her attention.

"Yang! Yang!" Neptune said as he ran up to them. He was about to launch into his latest pitch on why Yang should go to the dance with him when he noticed their linked hands. His mouth fell open.

Sun, never far behind, sidled up next to him. "So, Blake…" He stopped talking abruptly, doing a double take, looking back and forth between their hands and their faces.

"Hey, how's it going?" Yang said cheerily.

"Uh… So you two are, um… Together now?" Neptune stammered.

"Yup!"

"Like together, together?" Sun asked incredulously.

"Mmm-hmm."

Throughout all this, Blake was looking off to the side, avoiding eye contact with her cheeks slightly pink.

"Well boys, we have to get going. See you later," Yang announced.

Sun and Neptune waited until the girls had turned the corner before speaking again.

"Whoa…" Sun said, a little awestruck. "Do you think they've kissed yet?"

"One can only hope…" Neptune said dreamily.

Sun playfully shoved him. "You're totally picturing it!"

Neptune shoved him back. "How could I not? They are so freaking hot!"

Blake and Yang continued walking down to the student commons area. They saw Weiss, Pyrrha, and Nora sitting on one of the benches against the wall. As they approached, Blake could see Nora looking at them and then whispering something into Pyrrha's ear. She felt her heart drop. Blake didn't think they were the judgmental type but she had been wrong about people before.

"Hey guys," Yang said in her usual happy voice.

"Hi…" Weiss replied, eyeing their linked hands.

Nora smacked Weiss' arm. "Can I say it?" she asked.

"Ugh, fine."

Nora's aquamarine eyes darted rapidly between Blake and Yang, barely able to contain her excitement. "Called it!"

"Huh?" Blake asked. She was utterly confused.

Pyrrha let out a graceful and feminine laugh. "We're happy for you."

"You owe me ten bucks!" Nora said to Weiss.

"Here," she said, handing her a ten dollar bill.

"You guys had a bet about us?" Blake asked, not fully comprehending.

"A bet I would have won if you had gotten together a week earlier, I might add," Weiss said scornfully.

 _Was it really that obvious?_ Blake thought.

"Oh my god, you guys are way too funny," Yang chuckled. "Well we should head off to class now," she said looking at Blake.

Blake glanced at the clock, there was still fifteen minutes left before break was over. "Okay," she said looking fondly at Yang.

"See you around girls," the blonde said.

"Bye!" Nora replied her usual exuberant tone.

They passed by a poster advertising Portland State University as they made their way to their next class. Blake paused and took a pamphlet from the plastic holder.

"Are you thinking of going there after grad?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, I applied in January. Tukson said it might be good if I went to school here... You know, stability and everything. How about you?"

Yang looked forlornly at the happy looking faces of the students displayed in the poster. The idea of college was like a nagging burr that would occasionally catch in the back of her mind. She had taken the SATs in October and her scores were above average but she couldn't imagine herself moving away and leaving Ruby.

She needed to be there to take care of her. Portland State University was an option. Maybe she could get a student loan and work part time until they got their own place-

"Yang, are you okay? You looked far away there for a minute."

"I guess I haven't really thought about it… It's probably too late now, I missed the application deadline."

"I heard some schools accept applications as late as May, I'm sure Portland State-"

Yang waved her hand to stop her. "Nah, it's fine. I don't even know what I want to do with my life…"

"And you think I do?" Blake said gently. "Just… Promise me you'll think about it." Yang had so much potential in her eyes. Blake thought it would be such a shame to let it go to waste.

Yang nodded and tightened her grip on Blake's hand. "C'mon there's five minutes left of break, wanna make out in the bathroom?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Yang," she said sternly, but she admitted to herself that it wasn't the worst idea…

* * *

"So are you and Blake dating now?" Ruby asked as she was jotting down the answer to her math problem.

"Shhh." Yang glanced at her dad who was sitting on the couch in the living room watching the news. "Keep it down," she whispered.

It was after dinner. Yang had finished cleaning up and was working on her math homework with Ruby on the kitchen table.

"Aren't you guys official now?" Ruby asked in a quieter voice.

"Yeah, but I haven't told dad yet. I want him to meet Blake in person..."

"I think he'll like her if that's what you're worried about," Ruby said nonchalantly.

"I know he will. It's just that…" Truthfully, Yang was more nervous about Blake not liking _him_ with what she knew about his drinking. "I'm just being silly."

They worked on their math homework quietly for the next twenty minutes, Yang helping Ruby solve a particularly tough polynomial equation. Algebra she kind of understood after all the time she spent studying for SATs, but Calculus still threw her through a loop with all the different derivatives.

"And then you make x equal-"

Suddenly there was a loud thud, Yang and Ruby looked up to see Taiyang lying motionless on his face.

Yang was by his side in an instant, he was unconscious but breathing. This wasn't the typical gradual passing out he usually did. He hadn't had anything to drink for the entire evening.

"Ruby call 911!"

* * *

 

"Sorry about all the trouble doc. It must have been low blood sugar." Taiyang said amiably to the doctor who was examining him, a man in his late thirties.

Yang and Ruby watched worriedly, standing off to the side. Yang couldn't take her eyes off the large bandage over his cheek bone where his face hit the floor.

"Have there been any changes to your health recently?" The doctor asked.

Taiyang shrugged. "Not really… Just been feeling a little more tired lately.

The doctor nodded and jotted something down on the clipboard. "The lab report came back and it appears that your liver enzymes are elevated. Do you drink alcohol on a regular basis?"

Taiyang shifted slightly, rearranging the bed sheets over his lap. "Just the odd beer while watching the game," he answered.

Yang looked directly at him, but he avoided her gaze. _Just the odd beer plus the heavy drinking until you pass out three nights a week…_

The doctor also looked at him for a long moment without saying anything. He jotted another note down on the chart. "Mr. Xiao-Long. Elevated liver enzymes could be a sign of early liver disease. Excessive alcohol intake may further exacerbate the inflammation. It is only a suggestion but my recommendation is that you try to reduce your alcohol intake. There are several programs and services available if you need help."

Taiyang looked like he wanted to argue, but in the end he just nodded.

"I will be discharging you at this time. Please come back in a month for your follow up appointment or sooner if you experience any other symptoms."

Ruby came up and hugged Taiyang tightly after the doctor left. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Heh, I'm real sorry for worrying you kiddo."

Yang placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Hey, can you go pay for parking at the machine? We'll be leaving soon," she said, handing Ruby the ticket and a few dollar bills and change.

"Okay."

When she was sure Ruby was out of ear shot, she turned to him. "Just the odd beer, dad? You should have been honest with the doctor about how much you drink."

"It's fine. I'm fine."

"Did you hear what he said about liver disease? This is serious."

"You worry too much."

 _And why do you think that is? Someone in this family has to_ , Yang thought bitterly.

Ruby came back in before Yang could say anything more.

The younger sister could feel the tension in the room. "Hey…" she said, looking back and forth between them. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," Taiyang answered firmly.

* * *

Yang pulled away from the kiss, head bumping into the car ceiling, looking breathless and excited. "I think my bra came loose."

Blake's face reddened slightly. It wasn't surprising, she had been running her hands up and down Yang's back the whole time they had been making out.

"So?" she said, trying to sound cool as she wrapped her arms around Yang and pulled her down for another kiss.

It was a beautiful clear April night. The weather had warmed up considerably and Blake had invited Yang for a drive to the clearing where they could watch the meteor shower. But when Blake turned off the engine and looked at her with those coy but challenging amber eyes, Yang couldn't resist kissing her. They awkwardly maneuvered themselves to the back seat while trying to keep their lips attached, not wanting to be separated for even one second.

Yang smiled into the kiss and parted her lips to deepen it, tongues sliding and intertwining in a sensual dance. Blake could be surprisingly passionate when she let herself. She loved seeing this side of her girlfriend. She loved being able to call Blake her girlfriend.

Yang lightly sucked on the tip of her tongue, hearing Blake let out a quiet moan in response. It was music to her ears. She just wanted to lose herself in Blake, forget about everything else.

"Hey…" Blake said, reluctantly pulling away. "If we keep this up, we're going to miss the meteor shower."

"I guess you're right," Yang agreed, pressing one last peck to her lips before sitting back and re-buckling her bra

Blake got out of the car and took out a thick fleece blanket from the trunk. She spread it out on the tall grass while Yang stared up at the stars with her hands in the pockets of her cotton military jacket.

Blake smiled to herself as she watched her. The blonde always looked at the stars with a child-like wonderment. It was adorable. She quietly walked up to Yang and wrapped her arms around her from behind. "It's going to start soon," she whispered softly in the shell of her ear.

Yang nodded and gave Blake's arms a gentle squeeze. They made their way to the soft blanket, Yang laying down first. Blake adjusted the purple and black checkered flannel shirt she wore over her black tank top and settled herself next to the blonde, sighing contentedly as Yang wrapped her arm around her. With her head resting comfortably on her chest, Blake tried to memorize everything about the moment, from the smell of Yang's perfume to the feeling of her warm breath brushing past her cheek.

Blake noticed Yang was quieter than usual. Normally the blonde would be talking more, asking what she was thinking or telling her stories from her past, but tonight she seemed content to bask in the quiet and breathe in the scent of her hair.

They watched the sky closely, looking for any falling stars. Yang thought she saw one and raised her right hand to point at a spot close to the big dipper's handle. Blake looked at the back of Yang's bare hand instead, lifting her own to join hers and lightly tracing the scars on Yang's knuckles with her fingers.

Blake didn't know why Yang hid them, wearing fingerless gloves most of the time and only taking them off when they were alone together. She liked Yang's scars. They were a part of her, badges of honour that represented her spirit as a fighter, as a person who never gave up. She loved that about her. She loved… her.

Blake had known for a while. Her feelings had been slowly building for some time but it was still a shock to her system when she first realized. Blake had believed for years that she was physically incapable of feeling that way for anyone. She silently prayed that one day she would have the courage to say it out loud, words that she never said before or had a reason to say in her entire life until now.

"Blake, look," Yang said, breaking her out of her reverie.

Blake looked up at that moment to see two streams of light darting across the sky at lightning speed. It was beautiful. She considered making a stereotypical wish on a shooting star but looking at Yang's smiling face and being held protectively in her arms, she realized she already had everything she could ever want.


	18. Vulnerability

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the wait, I caught a bad cold at the start of May and it drained what little energy I had at the end of the day to write. Big thank you for all the comments last chapter, I was really happy to read them. Feedback truly is the lifeblood for a fanfic writer.

Blake re-adjusted her scarf for the third time before mustering up the courage to knock on the door. Yang opened the door almost instantly, shooting Blake a nervous smile as she let her into the apartment.

"Hey, glad you could make it." Yang was worried that Blake would chicken out last minute.

"Me too.

Blake could see Yang's dad out on the balcony through the glass doors, flipping burgers on the barbeque. Yang's father was a tallish man in his late thirties with a slight build and muscular arms. He had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes that were piercing but friendly.

Blake was apprehensive about meeting Taiyang for the first time. When she had told Tukson that she and Yang were together, he had barely batted an eye, just told her to be responsible and keep focused on her school. She was hoping for the same kind of nonchalant reaction from Yang's father.

Yang knocked on the glass to get her dad's attention. He smiled broadly and wiped his hands on a cloth, sliding the door open and walking in.

"Dad, this is Blake… My girlfriend."

"It's nice meeting you, Mr. Xiao Long," Blake said politely, shaking his hand.

"Ah call me Tai, Mr. Xiao Long is too formal, and it's always nice to meet one of my daughter's friends," Taiyang said, shaking her hand firmly.

Yang and Blake exchanged a confused look.

Yang tried to clarify. "Dad, Blake's not my friend who's a girl… She's my girlfriend."

Taiyang looked surprised for a moment, glancing between the two of them with his eyebrows raised. "Like boyfriend-girlfriend?" he asked.

"Dad!" Yang groaned. "Yes, like boyfriend-girlfriend, except in this case, girlfriend-girlfriend."

Taiyang furrowed his brow, appearing to be in deep thought. Blake had no idea what to do in this situation. She clutched Yang's hand tightly and looked at her for direction, but the blonde didn't know what to do either.

"Huh…" Taiyang grunted, finally getting his thoughts in order. "So you two are dating?"

Yang nodded. "Yes. She makes me happy..."

Taiyang smiled at Blake. "Well Blake, let me tell you that you're not exempt from the standard dad speech just cause you're a girl. The same rules apply, you better not hurt my little sun dragon."

"Dad!" Yang exclaimed, covering her face in embarrassment.

"What? It's true," he said, oblivious.

Blake chuckled at Yang's reaction, but she became serious when she spoke to him. "I care for your daughter very much."

"Good, then we'll get along just fine," he said, clasping a hand on her shoulder. "Now the real question, do you like cheese on your burger?"

"Sure," Blake replied, relaxing a little.

"Coming right up!" Taiyang said, running to the balcony.

Watching Taiyang laughing and flipping burgers with Ruby dutifully waiting with a plate, Blake could see where Yang got her friendly nature from. She looked over at Yang who still looked a little embarrassed.

"I think that went well, don't you?"

"Agh, he called me 'little sun dragon', he hasn't called me that for years, it's like a literal translation of my name. So embarrassing…"

Blake smiled and looped her arms around Yang's neck, effectively transfixing her. "I think it's cute. It suits you… _My_ little sun dragon…"

The inflection in Blake's voice sent a shiver up Yang's spine and she couldn't help but blush. _Well when you say it like that…_

Blake pressed a quick kiss to the tip of Yang's nose. "C'mon, let's go get some burgers."

"Yeah…"

* * *

Blake turned on the DVD player and placed the Hamlet movie she had borrowed from the library into the disc tray. They were reading Hamlet in English class. Yang had a hard time picturing the scenes just by the Shakespearean dialogue so Blake suggested they watch the movie together at her house.

They were sitting comfortably on a couch in the basement with Blake curled up against Yang's side. The ghost of Hamlet's father had just appeared on screen when Yang sighed adorably in Blake's ear. She turned her head to look up at her and their eyes met, hungry and longing. In the span of a second, Blake found herself pressed against the couch cushions with Yang on top of her as they kissed heatedly.

Yang's hand was working their way up her shirt, fingertips stroking the sensitive skin of her ribs. Blake had her own hands up Yang's shirt, sliding her palms along her well-defined back muscles and pulling her closer so she could feel even more of her. _God this felt good…_

Suddenly, Blake heard the door upstairs open. She quickly pushed Yang off and straightened out her shirt. They tried their best to act natural even though they were still panting and out of breath. Blake sat ramrod straight, clutching the remote control and Yang was smoothing out her hair.

"Are you kids okay down there?" Tukson asked at the top of the stairs in his booming voice.

"We're fine!" Blake replied, not quite able to keep the nervous tremble out of her voice.

Yang grinned at her the whole time, slowly creeping her hand to her thigh. Blake shot her an annoyed glare and mouthed the words " _not now_." Yang's grin grew even wider.

"Well alright…" Tukson said scratching the back of his head. "Let me know if you girls need any water or snacks or anything..."

Tukson closed the door and Blake smacked Yang on the arm.

"What?" Yang laughed.

After a few more lingering kisses, the two of them finally settled into a comfortable position on the couch, Yang laying on her side facing the TV with her arm around Blake who was laying in front of her.

They finished watching the rest of the movie without any more distractions for the most part; Blake only having to catch Yang's wandering hands just a few times...

"Well that movie was a downer," Yang said after the credits had rolled. "Everyone died."

"It's a Shakespearean tragedy… What did you expect? I liked it," Blake said.

"Of course _you_ would," Yang said, leaning down and kissing her right on the earlobe.

Blake giggled from the ticklish contact and rolled over so she was facing Yang. The blonde looked back fondly at her, laying on her side with her head propped up on her elbow. Blake idly stoked her hair with her right hand, fingertips brushing along her smooth cheek. _She is so beautiful, it really isn't fair_ , she thought.

Blake would have loved to stay in that moment forever, safe and warm on the couch, but she knew that she couldn't. How much longer could they be together like this before their lives would inevitably change?

"Have you thought about what you want to do after graduation?" Blake asked.

Yang looked surprised, the question clearly caught her off guard. She shrugged her shoulders. "I just figured I'd get a job and work for a couple of years until Ruby graduates."

Blake frowned. "Yang… You can't hold yourself back for Ruby's sake."

Yang looked away and sat up, putting some distance between them. "Why not? I can't exactly go off to college with my dad getting drunk every night. Besides, Ruby's the smart one of the family. She's the one who has a real shot of making something out of herself."

"Don't say that," Blake said seriously, her amber eyes staring fiercely into her lilac eyes.

Yang stared back stubbornly but eventually relented under Blake's gaze, letting out a tired sigh. "I don't want to talk about this right now…"

"Okay. I'm here whenever you _do_ want to talk about it."

Yang gently took Blake's face in her hands and pecked her lightly on the lips. "I know… Thanks."

* * *

It was one am in the morning when they got back to Blake's house from their date. They had been out for a motorcycle ride, Yang deciding to give her an impromptu tour around the city at breakneck speeds.

The blonde walked Blake to her door, kissing her briefly on the mouth. "I should go."

Blake thought Yang's eyelids looked droopy, the adrenaline from the motorcycle ride must have worn off.

"Are you sure? You seem tired."

"I'm fine," Yang said, stifling a yawn.

"Tukson's not home... Do you want to… Spend the night?"

Yang just stood there blinking at Blake, dumbstruck for a moment.

Blake realized how it sounded and blushed. "Not like that, just like… Actual sleeping?"

 _Oh_. Yang nodded quickly in understanding.

"Well…" Yang said, thinking it over. She had called Ruby earlier to check in and everything was fine, her dad was home and sober for a change. "Uh, sure. I'll sleep over."

Yang changed into the T-shirt and shorts that Blake lent her.

"Do they fit?" Blake asked. She thought Yang looked pretty cute in her clothes.

"Yeah they do." The shirt was a little tight around her chest area but it fit fine otherwise.

Blake handed her a spare toothbrush and they brushed their teeth together in front of the bathroom mirror. It was strange to Yang how domestic it felt, and it was even stranger that she liked it and wished she could do it more often.

It was time to get ready for bed. Yang wasn't sure about the sleeping arrangements until Blake crawled into her bed and left the comforter un-tucked for her. Yang walked over and ran her fingers through her hair, wincing when they hit a few tangles. Her long blonde hair always got tangled from the wind whenever she went for a motorcycle ride.

"Is your hair tangled?"

"Yeah, I usually brush it before bed, but I'm just so tired tonight."

Blake looked up at her with an unreadable expression. She tentatively asked. "Can I brush your hair?"

Yang hesitated for a moment. She was extremely protective of her hair, never letting anyone else touch it. "Okay…"

"Are you sure?" Blake asked, worried about Yang's subdued response.

"Yeah," Yang answered sitting on the edge of the bed.

Blake took out a hairbrush from the nightstand drawer and sat behind Yang with her knees bent under her. Blake started off with slow and gentle strokes, using the edge of the brush to work through the more stubborn tangles.

Yang closed her eyes and she started to relax, getting used to the sensation of Blake gently running a brush through her hair. She tried to remember the last time she felt like this, warm and doted-on. Suddenly a memory as clear as day assailed her all at once.

_"_ _What do you get when you cross a lemon and a cat?"_

_"_ _Hmm…I don't know…" Summer pretended to think hard on the matter, tapping her finger on her chin. "Why don't you tell me?" she asked with a smile._

_"_ _A sourpuss!" Yang exclaimed, eyes bright and proud._

_Summer covered her mouth and giggled, the corners of her silver eyes crinkling as she laughed. "That's a good one, but now we have to get ready for bed," she said, retrieving the hairbrush from the dresser table._

_"_ _Okay," Yang said as she skipped to the bed._

_Five year old Ruby was running around their bedroom holding her Tigger doll, singing a song that she made up that afternoon._

_Summer hummed as she brushed Yang's soft blonde hair. It was their nightly routine after dinner and bath._

_"_ _So what story do you want to read tonight?_

_"_ _Beauty and the Beast!" Yang said excitedly._

_"_ _Aw you always pick that one. I want Mom to read Peter Pan!" Ruby whined._

_"_ _Now, now, you got to pick the story last night Ruby. It's Yang's turn tonight," Summer said gently._

_Ruby pouted, clutching her doll._

_"_ _Tell you what, Mommy will bake you some cookies tomorrow if you stop pouting."_

_"_ _Yay!" Yang cheered._

_"_ _You promise?" Ruby asked earnestly._

_"_ _I promise."_

Yang's eyes filled with tears and they rolled down her face. She frantically tried to blot them with the front of her shirt.

"Yang? What's wrong?" Blake asked, alarmed.

"Nothing!" Yang said in a shaky voice, trying to suppress her sobs.

Blake crawled onto her lap and hugged her tightly.

"I'm here. I'm here."

"Sorry…I don't even know why I'm crying," Yang said with her voice cracking. "It was so long ago!"

"Shh, you don't need a reason. Just let it out."

Yang buried her face against Blake's neck, tears flowing down and wetting her T-shirt.

"I just miss her so much."

"I know. Shh, it's okay."

Yang took in a few shuddering breaths.

"Promise. Promise you won't leave me?"

"I promise. I won't ever leave you," Blake solemnly assured.

Yang was quiet for a long moment, clutching Blake around her waist. "I love you…" she murmured, a whisper against Blake's chest.

It was barely audible but Blake's eyes widened from the admission. She pulled away to look at Yang, holding her face in her hands. Her eyes were red and puffy, overcome with emotion.

"I… I…" Blake started. She tried, the words wouldn't come out. _Why couldn't she just say it, s_ he asked herself, cursing her own cowardice.

Blake tugged Yang back into her embrace and kissed her over and over til her tears dried, hoping it could communicate what she felt. _I love you._


	19. Yours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a nice summer up here in the great white north so far. Five chapters left and I'm going to be taking my time to finish this story right.

"I'm still not sure what we're doing here?" Blake said, watching Yang carefully wrap her knuckles and wrist. They were at the boxing gym on a quiet Saturday afternoon.

"You always said you wanted to learn more about my activities."

"Learn more about, not exactly participate."

"Aw come on, it'll be fun," Yang said, stealing a kiss.

Blake gasped a little in surprise but then grabbed hold of Yang's wrists and stole a kiss right back. They continued on like that for few minutes until Yang realized they were getting carried away. She pulled back, Blake narrowly missing her lips with a swipe of her tongue.

"Easy there, we should get started."

Blake's bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly in a pout and Yang fought the urge to kiss it. She handed Blake a jump rope and led her to the hard rubber mats.

Blake did surprisingly well at skipping rope. She was nimble, only bouncing high enough to let the rope pass through. Yang showed her some basic jabs and kicks and they shadow boxed in front of the mirror for a little while before moving to the punching bags.

"These are heavy." Blake said as she put on Yang's spare pair of 16 ounce gloves.

Yang just smirked at her as she took her place behind the bag.

"Try not to drop your shoulder when you throw your punch. Good. Good!"

It was strenuous, Blake was working up quite a sweat but she was enjoying it. Finally, she had to take a break when her shoulders and biceps began to burn. She took off her gloves and took a few gulps from her bottle of water, feeling Yang's eyes on her the whole time. Apparently she really liked seeing her sweat.

"So what's next?"

"I was thinking we could cool down by doing some abs."

Blake suppressed a groan. Ab exercises were the last thing she wanted to do. "Let's spar," she suggested.

"Blake, it's literally your first day."

"Come on. Are you afraid I'm going to beat you?"

Now that was a challenge.

"Alright, you asked for it."

They slid under the ropes of the boxing ring and began circling each other. Blake was watching her intently, body curled in and ready to spring.

"Hands up," Yang reminded, seeing Blake's fists low by her chest. "Keep your hands tight by your jaw and elbows tucked in at your sides."

They exchanged light jabs back and forth. Blake's hands kept on dropping with each punch she threw.

"Hands."

"How am I supposed to throw a decent punch and keep my hand on my face?"

"You'll get used to it. Step forward with right foot and keep your arm in line with your shoulder."

Slowly, Blake started getting better as she listened to Yang's instructions. She was fast and deceptively strong, ducking and slipping out of her range. It was getting harder to evade her punches. Yang was surprised at how fast she was learning, but knew it made sense given her past experience on the streets.

Eventually, worn down and tired from the constant dodging, Yang went for a right cross but tripped up on her step. She stumbled and fell on top of Blake roughly.

"Sorry," Yang said, panting and raising herself up on her hands and knees.

Blake was taking a few deep breaths as well. She looked up at Yang with her face flushed and mouth parted, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. She looked beautiful.

Blake hooked a leg around Yang's ankle and flipped them over, reversing their positions. "So it looks like I came up on top."

"Yean it seems that way."

"What do I get for winning?"

"Um, whatever you want…" Yang stammered, pulse beginning to quicken.

"Hmm…" Blake thought for a moment and then dipped down and kissed her.

Yang let out a little surprised yelp but soon reciprocated, threading her fingers through Blake's dark hair. They stayed on the mat for a long time after that.

* * *

On Sunday morning, Yang and Ruby were eating breakfast at the kitchen table when their father joined them with his newspaper and coffee. He sighed and opened the paper to the sports page. Yang glanced at her father quickly out of the corner of her eye but then did a double take. There was something different about him... The whites of his eyes looked yellow and when she took a closer look, the skin on his face also had a yellowish tinge to it. Something was wrong.

"Dad…?"

* * *

"Mr. Xiao Long, you are in the early stages of alcohol induced hepatitis. Your liver is severely inflamed. We can prescribe you medications to manage your symptoms but the only way for you to fully recover is to abstain from alcohol. If you continue to drink, there is a high likelihood that you will develop cirrhosis, a permanent scarring your liver which _can_ be fatal."

Yang swallowed hard at the doctor's grim words. Taiyang stared resolutely ahead with his arms crossed, not saying a word. With no further questions from the silent pair, the doctor wrote a prescription and went to the next patient.

Taiyang retrieved his leather jacket from the chair, avoiding Yang's worried gaze.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

Her father sighed, sounding exhausted. "I'll quit."

"What?"

"I'll just quit drinking. Simple as that," he said shrugging his jacket on.

"You will?" Yang asked, uncertain.

"Yes. I'll stop."

"Is that okay to just stop? Don't you need to go to detox or something?" She read stories on the internet of people getting really sick when they abruptly stopped drinking.

"I can handle it." Taiyang looked at her with a determined look in his eyes and they were quiet for a moment.

"Okay…" Yang desperately wanted to believe that it would be that simple but a nagging voice in the back of her told her it wouldn't be.

* * *

Yang was over at Blake's house for one of their bi-weekly weekend sleepovers whenever Tukson was away for work. They were sitting on the couch, Yang's legs draped over Blake's lap as they watched Netflix.

Blake idly stroked Yang's bare thighs just under the hem of her shorts. She started to wonder what it would be like, to feel them around her waist or wrapped around her- Blake blushed bright red at the thought. Yang was sitting right next to her, _what was she thinking?_

Blake had been having these types of thoughts a lot lately. At school, she thought she could pick out the couples that had sex just by watching them. The way they interacted seemed different, more intimate, like they had already been as close as physically possible and there were no more secrets between them. She wanted that with Yang.

They had engaged into some heavy make-out sessions and felt each other's curves over their clothing, but never went any further than that. Surprisingly, it was always Yang who stopped before things got too heated. But for Blake, it was starting to get _painful_ to stop, her entire body like a livewire aching for Yang's touch.

Blake thought it was because Yang didn't think _she_ was ready to take their relationship to the next level. It pained her to think that Yang was still holding back, still afraid that she'd frighten her off like a scared deer.

Yang was probably waiting for her to make the first move. _Tonight,_ Blake thought. Tonight, she was going to show Yang that she wasn't afraid anymore. She was going to show her just how much she loved her.

Blake had never been with another girl before but she had done a fair amount of research on the internet on ways she could make Yang feel good. She was still a little nervous though, feeling the back of her neck heat up as Yang quietly shuffled underneath the covers beside her.

She turned off the light and they just lay there staring at each other for a while. In the moonlight, Blake was able to see every detail in Yang's beautiful eyes. Yang opened her mouth to say goodnight and was interrupted with a kiss.

The passion in which she kissed her surprised Yang at first but she soon found herself kissing back with the same fervor. Blake slid her hand along Yang's side, down over the curve of her hip to the back of her thigh where she pulled it astride her waist.

Yang let out a low moan at the contact. She could feel the heat between them as Blake pressed her body against hers. She gasped when Blake lightly nipped her bottom lip with her teeth and it sent a jolt of heat straight through her body.

Blake kissed Yang harder and deeper than before, capturing her tongue and gently sucking on it. She took Yang's hand and guided it underneath her shirt to her breast, shuddering when she heard Yang's contented sigh. The sound of it made her feel inexplicably good. She wanted more.

Blake slid her palm down and over Yang's defined stomach, fingertips at the waistband of her shorts. She was about to slip her hand inside Yang's panties when she felt the blonde's hand gently clasped over hers.

"Can we slow down?" Yang asked quietly.

Blake stopped immediately. She studied the blonde's face, her cheeks were flushed and her lips were slightly swollen from the force of their kisses.

"Sorry… I… I thought this was what you wanted."

"It is what I want… It's just…"

Yang looked down away from her and Blake prepared for the worst as a hundred negative thoughts flowed through her head.

"… I haven't done this before…" Yang whispered.

Blake looked up at her in surprise. _Surely she meant…_ "With a girl, right?" she asked.

Yang didn't answer.

Blake blinked. "You're… You're a virgin?"

"Thanks for sounding so surprised Blake."

"No it's not that. It's just…" Blake took her face gently in her hands. "You're so beautiful…" She kissed her right cheek. "And kind..." She kissed her left cheek. "How could anyone resist you?" She kissed her gently on the lips.

"It's not like I didn't have chances…" Yang said, softening a little. "I just wanted it to be special, with someone I really loved."

"You don't love me?" The words tumbled out of Blake's mouth before she could stop them.

"Of course I love you. How could you even think that? It's just…" Yang sighed deeply. "How do I explain…"

Blake stroked her arm and waited patiently for her to continue.

"I've always been the one to take care of everybody. I've always been the big sister, the responsible one… I've never really had someone take care of me like that… And it kind of scares me to let anyone in close enough to do that… Pretty dumb huh?"

Blake shook her head. "That's not dumb at all. I… I know how hard it is to let people in sometimes…" Yang had been so patient with her this whole time. "I just didn't want you to think that _I_ wasn't ready… That I didn't want this as badly as I do… But I don't mind waiting," Blake said quickly. "We can wait until we are both ready to take that next step."

Yang engulfed her in a hug. "Thank you. I just need a little more time…" She looked deeply into Blake's eyes, her cheeks reddening. "When I give myself to you… I want to be yours completely... Without any doubts or fears."

Blake pulled her back into a close embrace. "I want to be yours too… I'll always be."

Yang nodded against Blake's shoulder, too overcome with emotion to speak.


	20. Intervention

Blake was sitting at the kitchen table watching Yang prep their meal. It was just the two of them in the apartment at the moment, Taiyang had driven Ruby to the hobby store so she could pick up some supplies for her latest project.

"Hey Blake, can you check how long I'm supposed to soak the noodles for?" Yang was separating dry rice noodles with her fingers in a bowl of warm water.

"Sure."

Blake went to the computer but the page that had pad thai recipe had been accidentally closed. She went back into the search history to find the website when she noticed a name that came up over and over. Raven Branwen. She clicked on one of the Facebook links and got to a profile page with some haunting black and white photography. It appeared to belong to a mysterious woman with sharp features and dark flowing hair. She was beautiful.

"Who's… Raven Branwen?"

Yang stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before looking away. "No one..." she said quietly.

Blake knew she was hiding something from the way she avoided her eyes. Was there someone else? She felt a stinging sensation in her chest from the thought.

"It's fine. We don't have to talk about this now if you don't want to," Blake said quickly, trying to change the subject.

Yang heard the strange tone in Blake's voice and it hit her all at once on how it must have looked. A search history filled with a woman's name that Blake had never heard of. She must have seemed obsessed.

"Blake, it's not what you think. Raven Branwen is…" The name still sounded so strange coming from her mouth. "She's my biological mother."

Yang wiped her hands on the dish cloth and sat dejectedly on the couch.

Blake, got over her initial surprise and joined her. She wasn't sure what to say.

"I didn't know…"

Yang smiled sadly. "How could you have? I never told you. Even my dad… He _never_ wanted to talk about her."

"What… What happened?" Blake asked hesitantly.

"She left us. A month after I was born… Real mom-of-the-year material huh?"

Yang tried to joke but Blake could hear the bitterness in her voice.

"Why did she leave you?"

Yang sighed. "That question. _Why?_ It's always haunted me ever since I found out about her. Why the hell did she leave and ditch me and my dad. My Uncle Qrow always said that she wasn't cut out to be a mom… Seems like a pretty lame excuse to me."

"Have you tried contacting her?"

"I messaged her once, but she didn't reply. I'm guess just a glutton for punishment, huh?" Yang sniffed.

"Yang…" Blake wrapped her arms around her and Yang leaned in, resting her head on her shoulder.

Blake couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a biological mother who left their child as a conscious decision. Her own parents never had a choice when they left her.

"It's stupid… I should hate her, I should forget about her. I shouldn't care so much about it but I can't seem to let it go. No matter how hard I try."

Blake held her tighter. Yang appreciated that she didn't try to make her feel better with comforting words and assurances.

"I'm sorry this happened to you."

"Mm. I'm okay. Summer was my real mom. I just wanted some answers, you know? Find out why she left. I think of Ruby and I couldn't imagine leaving her. We're family. Families are supposed to be there to support each other."

"I agree." Blake pressed her cheek into the crook of Yang's neck. "I hope you find the answers you're looking for someday..."

Yang nodded and clasped her hand over the one Blake's had on her shoulder. They were quiet for a moment before Yang stood up and got back to making dinner.

"Whelp, enough of that depressing stuff. Get ready to have the best pad thai recipe ever!"

Blake rolled her eyes but smiled. "Sure."

* * *

It had been a few weeks since Taiyang promised Yang he would quit drinking. He seemed to be doing okay, going out less and staying home more. Yang noticed that some days he got out of bed looking a little green, sick to his stomach. She would also notice that his hands trembled once in a while when he reached for things. Other than that, he seemed to be doing fine or at least better than Yang expected until one day...

"Hey dad, I was thinking we could all go to the new Avengers movie tonight. There are a few middle seats left," Yang said looking at her phone as her father walked through the door after work.

"Huh? Oh… Sure, Yang," he said after a pause.

There was something off in his tone. Yang looked up at him from the screen on her phone and noticed he had a glassy expression in his eyes.

"Are you feeling okay, Dad?"

"Yeah. It's just been a long day at the office."

Taiyang turned to reach for a glass water but inadvertently knocked over his lunch bag off the counter. A mickey of amber liquid clattered out on the linoleum.

"What is this?" Yang asked, picking up the bottle and turning it over in her hands.

He tried to take it back but Yang pulled away, keeping it out of reach. She looked at the label, it was Jack Daniels whiskey.

Taiyang looked down at the floor in shame.

"You're still drinking." It was a statement not a question said in a small broken voice.

Taiyang took the flask from her hands. "It's not what you think."

"Then tell me what to think, _dad_?"

He tossed the flask to the floor. "It's not easy, okay!?"

Ruby came through the door at that moment, looking wide-eyed and scared. She looked between the two of them. "What's going on?"

Taiyang bent down to pick up the flask off the floor like it was a precious object. "Nothing

"Look at what you're doing to yourself! You don't even care, you don't even care!" Yang said storming off to her room.

Yang tried desperately to blink back the tears but she couldn't stop them from continuously falling down her face. There was a soft knock at the door.

"Come in," she said sniffling.

Ruby came in with a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Heh, fine. Just having an argument with dad. You know how emotional I can get."

"Yang… How bad is it?" Ruby asked earnestly, her eyes silver pools deep with worry.

Yang hated seeing that look in her eyes, like her sister was way older than she had any right to be.

"It's bad," she said, after a long silence. "He's sick. If he doesn't stop drinking he'll…" She wiped away some stray tears, unable to say anymore.

"Oh," Ruby said in a small voice.

They were silent again for a moment, Yang wondering why she even told Ruby to burden her with this.

"I know you've been trying to protect me, but I'm not a baby anymore. You don't have to do this all by yourself."

Yang let out a shaky breath. She felt like she wanted to cry again.

"Yang, you've been taking care of me ever since… Since like forever. Let me help. Please?"

"I just don't know what to do anymore. He keeps saying he wants to stop but he refuses to get help." Yang said honestly.

The two sisters brooded in silence for a few minutes as they thought about what to do.

"What about an intervention?" Ruby suggested.

"Like the ones on TV?"

"Yeah. We'll sit dad down with us and Uncle Qrow, and maybe he'll finally listen?"

Yang was willing to try anything thing at this point. "Okay. Let's do it."

* * *

Ruby and Yang read online on how to stage an intervention and they got some pamphlets from the local medical clinic. They realized how close-knit their family was when they called their Uncle Qrow to participate. Taiyang's parents had passed away years ago and he didn't have any siblings. It would only be the three of them but it would have to do.

Ruby and Yang had prepared letters to read out about how their father's drinking affected them and they clutched the folded pieces of paper tightly in their hands. They felt sick with nerves for the entire day that it was planned for. When Taiyang came home from work, they were all seated in the living room waiting for him.

"What's going on?" Taiyang asked, eyeing the three of them sitting solemnly around the coffee table.

"Hi Dad," Ruby greeted in a nervous voice.

"What is this, an intervention?" Taiyang asked, half-jokingly. When he was met with silence, his eyes widened. "It is, isn't it?" He made a move to leave.

"Dad, please," Yang said imploringly.

He sat down heavily on the arm chair, sinking into the cushions.

Uncle Qrow started first. "Tai, I just want you to know that the point of this isn't to hurt or blame you, we just want to see you get the help you need."

He retrieved a piece of paper from his pocket and cleared his throat.

"Your drinking is affecting your job. You have been coming in late, and your investigations have started to get sloppy."

Taiyang scoffed loudly but Qrow continued on.

"The other guys on the force are starting to notice too, even the commissioner. I won't be able to cover for you anymore if you don't get help to stop drinking."

He nodded to Ruby. The younger sister clutched a piece of paper in her hands and began shakily.

"Dad, we used to make jokes together and you'd help me with my homework… But lately, it's like you haven't been around. You weren't there at the science fair. I wanted to show you what I built, what I worked so hard on… I miss hanging out with my dad…"

Yang squeezed her shoulder and offered her a kind smile. She was so proud of her.

Finally it was her turn. "Dad, your drinking affects me in many different ways. I worry about your health. I worry about how your drinking affects Ruby. I worry a lot, about everything… I'm so stressed out that I can't focus on things happening in my own life."

Yang saw her father shift uncomfortably in the chair out of the corner of her eye.

"Dad I love you, but you can't keep going like this. You need help."

Tai seemed to brood over the words she said before taking a deep breath and letting it out through his nose. "I appreciate all of your concern. I really do…"

Yang sensed a 'but' was coming.

"But I can handle this on my own. If I went to rehab… What would people say? My coworkers… The neighbors… They'd all think I was weak. I just need more time to-"

"You're afraid of what people will think? What about what ' _we_ ' think?" Yang asked incredulously.

"Yang it's not so simple… I'm a police officer, I have a reputation to uphold. If the guys find out I have an addiction issue, I'll lose their trust."

"Other members of the force have struggled with addiction before," Qrow said. "The precinct is supportive in getting them the help they need-"

"No. I have to do this on my own."

Yang couldn't take anymore. "I can't stand-by and watch you slowly kill yourself!" she interjected. "I won't let Ruby be around that... If you don't stop, I'll move out and take Ruby with me."

"What?" Taiyang asked angrily. "You can't do that, I'm her father!"

"Then start acting like it!" Yang yelled back.

Tai stood up abruptly and stormed out, slamming the door.

Yang hung her head down with her fists shaking. _Well that didn't work_.

* * *

Later that night, after quietly shedding a few tears in the shower, Yang sat at the computer in the kitchen scrolling through websites about addiction counseling. Ruby was in bed already and her father was still out. He hadn't returned since that afternoon. Yang started to wonder how things got so bad, where did it all start? It was when Summer died, Yang thought. No it started even earlier than that when Raven left him. _That's when he started breaking down._

Yang bit her lip, feeling impossibly angry. She signed into Facebook and her fingers started rapidly typing a message before she could stop.

_To: Raven Branwen_

_I just wanted you to know that dad (Taiyang if you have forgotten) is a raging alcoholic because of you. Our lives are far from perfect. Every day is a struggle. The least you could do is take some responsibility for what you've done and talk to the man whose life you've destroyed._

Yang pressed enter on the keyboard with her eyes watering with hot angry tears. She immediately regretted it, feeling ashamed of herself. How childish of her to blame a woman who she never met for ruining her lives, but it was true! That's when her dad started breaking down and that's why he completely broke down when Summer died. His heart was fractured from the first loss and then totally shattered from the second.

Yang wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and let out a long shaky breath. _Whatever._ Raven probably would ignore her message anyways. But when Yang looked up at the screen, she saw the blinking dots signaling that a reply was being typed.

_To: Yang Xiao Long_

_Where do you want to meet?_


	21. Raven

They decided to meet at a diner, some local truck stop on 51st street at the industrial end of town. Yang sat in a booth nervously, a lukewarm mug of coffee in front of her that she hadn't touched yet. Raven was over ten minutes late. Yang half-expected her not to show, it would be just like her to do that.

Another five minutes passed and Yang was cursing her stupidity for believing Raven would show up in the first place. She was about to get up and leave when a dark haired woman slid into the booth across from her.

Yang stared at her wide eyed. It was like looking into a negative image mirror. Raven had the same wild wavy hair but pitch black in colour. Her eyes were dark brown tinged with a shade of burgundy so deep that they looked red in the sunlight.

Raven didn't say a word, just looked back at Yang expectantly, waiting for her to start. Yang couldn't shake the feeling that she was studying her, forming an opinion, appraising her worth.

"First of all, I just want you to know that I don't want or need you in my life. In fact I don't _want_ anything from you."

"Says the girl who was so bold to blame me for all the problems in her life."

Yang stuttered. "That was... It was childish and immature. I shouldn't have said it but I'm not sorry because it's true."

Raven raised an eyebrow, looking slightly amused.

"Do you mind if I smoke?" she asked taking out a pack of cigarettes from her purse.

"Yes."

"Well too bad," she said, lighting up anyways.

"This is so fucked up..." Yang muttered to under her breath.

Raven slowly inhaled and exhaled a few drags from her cigarette before speaking again. "So Tai became a drunk."

Yang bristled at the word. She didn't like how she called him 'Tai' like it was so familiar, like she still knew him. "Don't call him that.."

"'Raging alcoholic' Isn't that a drunk?" Raven continued.

This time Yang snapped. "Can you blame him? After you broke his heart to pieces when you fucking left?"

A brief flash of anger flickered through Raven's eyes but she did not answer. She took another long drag from her cigarette and blew it out to the side.

"Well, he certainly moved on rather quickly after I left. Tai found his perfect wife, the perfect mother for his children. You know I knew Summer back then. She was always fawning over your father even at the police academy, waiting for her chance-"

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!"

Yang raised her voice earning a few looks from the people seated around them. Raven smirked.

"She _was_ my mom. More than you'll ever be to me."

Raven sighed. "Now that _is_ true statement."

Yang looked up at her, confused. "What?"

"I said it's true." Raven's reddish eyes seemed to soften as she remembered the past. "Summer and I may have had our differences but she was a good woman... Better than I was anyways," she conceded.

Yang was quiet for a moment. It still hurt to think about her, harder to hear about her from someone else. She tried to work up the nerve to ask her next question.

"Why did you leave anyways?" Yang asked, looking down at her knuckles.

It was the first time in the conversation that Raven hesitated. "It was different back then... I never wanted to get married. Your father kept talking about it. A ring, the house with a white picket fence. Looking back, maybe Taiyang didn't know me at all. Having a baby was the last thing on my mind... And then it happened. I had you. I don't regret having you... But I don't regret leaving either. It was for the best."

Yang narrowed her eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"

"If I stayed, I would have started to resent Tai, I would have started to resent you. Then we'd all be miserable. Would you really have wanted that?"

 _No_ , Yang thought sadly. "But why were those the only options? Stay and be miserable or abandon your family. Why couldn't you-"

"Like I said, it was a different time!" Raven snapped. "I'm not going to sit here and apologize for the past when you and I know it wouldn't change a goddamn thing. It wouldn't make you feel better, it wouldn't make any difference at all, so why bother?"

Something in Raven's angry tone clicked in with Yang.

"You were afraid..."

Raven scoffed. "No I wasn't. It was a conscious decision," she said flipping her dark hair over her shoulder.

Despite her words, Yang knew that Raven even with all her bravado was just a scared young girl when she gave birth to her.

"You were," Yang pressed.

"Let's just get to the point, what did you hope to accomplish from this meeting?"

"Dad... He really needs to stop drinking. We've all tried to get him to stop but he won't listen. Maybe if you talked to him-"

Raven let out a short laugh. "You honestly think that he would listen to me?"

"You guys have a history."

"I'm not going to talk to Tai. I'm practically a stranger to him now... It won't work."

"You could try..."

"Try, try, try." Raven repeated exasperatedly. "Sometimes it's just not worth it."

"My dad is worth it. Family is worth it."

"And what do _you_ want, Yang? Do you want to spend the rest of your life taking care of others? Never living for yourself?"

Yang didn't answer. She thought about what she wanted. Her family to be safe and happy. To be with Blake forever and for always.

"I made some mistakes but I can say for sure that I'm not a burden to anyone. I live the way I want and make no apology for it. It's better than living a lie."

"It's not a burden to care about someone. You probably don't care about anyone and maybe that's easier in some ways, but do people care for you? It must get lonely..."

It was Raven's turn not to answer, she sat staring ahead, the cigarette burning to the filter between her fingers.

"I'm not going to talk to him."

"Fine, don't." Yang didn't really expect Raven to help. In actuality, she had no idea what she expected from this meeting. "So this is it?"

"I guess so. One last piece of advice. If Summer were alive, she would have wanted you to live your own life on your terms. Too much compassion is a weakness, don't forget that."

Yang just shrugged.

Raven twisted what was left of her cigarette into the ash tray and she was gone. Just like that. No goodbye, no well-wishes, no plans to see each other again. Just gone. Yang thought it would hurt more, but she felt oddly at peace with it all.

She dialed Blake's number on her cell phone, glad that she could look at Blake's smiling face from the first selfie they took on the way to LA.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey Blake? I uh, I just met my biological mom Raven... It was the weirdest conversation ever."

" _Are you okay?"_

"I'm fine... She's definitely... She's definitely something. A few things make more sense now, I guess... I'll tell you all about it."

* * *

Taiyang was sitting on a bench in Laurelhurst Park watching the ripples in the lake. The park always held some form of comfort for him ever since his highschool days, playing basketball on hot summer afternoons or fooling around with girls in the dark. It was a quiet place he could sort out his thoughts in peace.

The clouds were dark and grey in the sky as he mulled over the last few days. He and Yang had barely spoken since their spat at the intervention.

 _I'm a terrible father,_ he thought miserably. _What's wrong with me?_ _How could I say those things?_

He tossed in some bread pieces into the water and watched as the ducks floated over, collecting the pieces and darting away.

"Hello Tai."

That voice! He nearly fell off the bench when he saw her. It was like seeing a ghost.

"What are you doing here?"

Raven fixed him with a hard stare. "You know why."

Tai slumped further into the bench. "You've talked to Yang..." It was a statement not a question.

"You know how bad things are if she reached out to me, out of all the people, for help. What are you doing to yourself Tai?"

He shrugged. "I drink. I drink to forget. I drink to feel better." He passed his palm over his face like he was wiping a thick layer mud off it. "I never claimed to be perfect..."

Raven gave him a disgusted look. "You're pathetic."

"At least I was there!" Tai shot back. "You left me alone to take care of a one month old! Do you have any idea how hard that was? No. No, you never looked back, not even once, did you? That was always your motto, 'no regrets' even when you abandoned your own family! You. You have absolutely no right to judge me."

"You're right, I don't. But, what would Summer think?"

The retort died on Taiyang's tongue when Summer's name was mentioned.

"Don't you say her name..." he whispered.

"Summer. _Summer_." She drew out the syllables slowly, watching Taiyang shrink in return. "Do you think she would have wanted this? For you to spend the rest of your life mourning her and in the process wrecking your kids' lives?"

"Noâ€¦"

"Then fix it Tai. Be a fucking man and fix it."

Tai hung his head down, Raven's words echoing in his head.

"After all, Yang can't afford to have two absentee parents," Raven said with a little smile.

Tai groaned. She just couldn't resist one last jibe could she? A she turned to leave, a memory from long ago came at him suddenly. He remembered the girl from highschool, wearing a leather jacket and a dangerous look in her eyes. The girl who he would do anything for, just to see her smile. His first love.

"Wait! You show up out of the blue after eighteen years, and now you're just going to leave again? We were a family Raven. I loved you... Don't you ever-"

"Stop, Tai."

He froze, knowing what the painful answer was going to be.

"You know it was for the best," Raven said, looking off at the lake.

Taiyang took a deep breath and swallowed the words he was about to say. He looked at her and simply nodded. Raven looked back at him one last time and they parted ways.

* * *

One day after school, Yang came home and there was a note on the kitchen counter.

_I've gone to detox at the medical clinic. Come visit me in a couple days._

_Dad_

* * *

Her father was sitting up in the clinic bed looking out the window when Yang came in. Taiyang looked like he had seen better days. His eyes were sunken in and there were flecks of grey interspersed in his blond stubble but he also looked calmer, strangely content.

He smiled when he noticed Yang at the door. "Hi Little Sun Dragon."

It was a relief to hear her father's voice without a trace of any anger and frustration. The last time they had spoken was their argument during the intervention.

"Dad, you know I'm not so little anymore," Yang chided lightly.

"I know, I know. You're all grown up now." _You had to be_ , Tai thought sadly.

"You look..." Yang paused, choosing her words. "You look good."

Taiyang chuckled. "You can be honest. I look like shit."

"How are you feeling?"

"The docs gave me some medicine, lorazepam I think it's called? It helps with the withdrawal symptoms. I'm feeling a lot better today."

Yang nodded and looked around the room. "No TV?"

"Ah, that costs extra."

"That sucks. So what have you been up to?"

"Just a lot of thinking... Yang, I need to apologize."

"Dad don't-"

"No I have to. I've been a terrible father to you and Ruby. I finally realized after the haze wore off... I was crushed by Summer's passing... But that's no excuse. I was the adult, I was the parent. I shouldn't have been so selfish, I should have been there for you, I should have-"

"Dad, stop. It's okay. You're here now," Yang said pulling him into a hug.

He sobbed into her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course!" Yang choked out, shedding a few tears herself. "I'm so glad you're back..."

"Me too. Me too. I'll never leave again."


	22. Yang's Birthday

Yang's birthday was coming up on June 23th, just a week before graduation. Blake wanted to plan something nice. She had kept her own birthday in January a secret, celebrating it alone at home with a well-worn book and a cup of tea. Yang was so upset when she found out about it, weeks later. Blake had to do quite a bit of convincing _not_ to throw her a belated birthday party. She supposed birthdays were a big deal in the Xiao Long household.

Blake set the last unlit candle in her bedroom and sent Yang a text.

_-Happy Birthday-_

Blake smiled as she watched the dots dance on the screen of her phone. The reply came immediately.

_+Thanks Blakey!+_

_-I have something planned for you...-_

_+Ooo what is it?+_

_-It's a surprise. Are you free now?-_

_+For you? Of course I am+_

_-Good. Meet me where we were first became partners-_

Yang thought for a moment about Blake's cryptic message. Well that was a no brainer. Chemistry class, the bane of her report card but also the place where she met Blake. She considered it one of the best things that had ever happened to her in her life. Being with Blake was like having a lense in her life, things were clearer and colours were more vibrant.

* * *

It felt odd walking down the halls of the school on a Saturday, completely empty of its usual bustling activity. Finals were done already, Yang found it hard to believe that she wouldn't be a highschool student anymore. In just another week, she'd reach a milestone and her life would change. The thought excited and scared Yang at the same time.

Yang saw Blake standing there leaning against the doorframe looking cute and casual in black skinny jeans and a dark purple v-neck.

"Hey beautiful," Yang said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Beautiful? It's a little late in the game for pick-up lines now, don't you think?"

"It's never too late for pick-up lines," Yang said, winking at her.

Blake took solace in Yang's bright smile. She seemed a lot happier lately now that her dad was getting the help he needed. Things finally seemed to be stabilizing at home.

"So what are we doing here? Are we going to be working on our _chemistry_?" Yang asked, waggling her eyebrows.

Blake blushed a little. "Not quite." She took both of Yang's hands and held them. "It's been an amazing year for me. I hope it has been for you too... I just thought it would be nice to take a walk through the places we've been before our date tonight."

"Aw that's so romantic."

"Come on," Blake said with a smirk.

They strolled into the school hallway where they first met.

"I remember that day with you standing outside Ozpin's office. You seemed so..." Yang trailed off. _Tough, cool, sexy_? "I uh, I guess I had a crush on you right away," she admitted, blushing a bit.

Blake chuckled and grasped her hand as they continued walking.

"Hey, what did you think of me when we first met?"

"Hmm, after that thing with Neptune? You don't want to know."

Yang laughed. "Come on, what did you really think?"

"Well at first, I thought you were just kind of a pretty face... But then after a while, I could tell you had a good heart and you cared about people. I mean even when I tried to push you away, you never gave up." Blake looked a little down for a moment.

"Hey, hey. Enough of that," Yang said pulling her close to her side. She kissed her temple. "I'd do it all again..." she whispered.

Blake tilted her chin and briefly pecked Yang on the lips. "I know. Thank you."

They walked by the swings in the park where they had opened up to each other for the first time.

"It was pretty cold that night..." Yang said.

"Yeah it was. You had to keep me warm with your, what did you say? Body heat?"

"Hey it worked, didn't it?" Yang defended.

Yang looked over at the park bench where Blake had poured her heart out to her about her past and where they shared their first real kiss. She remembered how heartbroken she felt after hearing everything Blake went through and how she wished she could take away her pain. She hoped she had made it better for her, even just a little. Blake squeezed her hand as if she knew what she was thinking.

After a short walk, they finally arrived at Blake's house.

"Can you wait here? I just need a second," Blake said to Yang as they got to the doorstep.

"Uh, sure."

Yang fiddled nervously with her fingers for a couple minutes waiting for Blake.

She heard Blake's soft call from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

When Yang walked in, the curtains were drawn and the entire living room and kitchen were lit up with candles.

"Whoa..."

It took a couple seconds for her eyes to adjust but she immediately saw Blake who had changed into a black form fitting dress with a lace top. She had her hands folded in front of her, looking shy and nervous in the middle of the room.

"You did all this for me?"

Blake nodded demurely.

"Aw, I feel kind of underdressed now."

"Don't be. This is all for you."

Yang paused for a moment before taking Blake into her arms and embracing her tightly. They held each other for a few long moments before Blake reluctantly pulled away.

"Dinner's going to get cold."

Blake had prepared fettuccini alfredo earlier that evening and kept it warm in the oven. The plates were already set on the small dining room table.

"Wow..." Yang whispered when she saw the beautifully set table. Blake really went all out for her and it made her indescribably happy.

Yang sat down and took a bite of the creamy pasta. "This is amazing, Blake!"

"I'm glad you like it."

"I can't wait to see what you have planned for dessert."

Blake's gaze darkened ever so slightly in the candle light. "You'll just have to wait and see. It will be good I promise."

After they had finished their meals, Blake brought out a strawberry frosted chocolate cupcake with a candle on top. Yang smiled and pulled her onto her lap, taking a quick selfie with her phone before blowing out the candle.

"I have something for you," Blake said after they had finished sharing the sweet chocolate treat. She retrieved a small box from the drawer.

Yang looked up at her in surprise, it seemed like Blake was determined to overwhelm her with sweetness. She opened the box and it contained two beautifully crafted silver ID bracelets with the letters BY engraved on them.

"I just thought it would be nice if we had something of each other's... You don't think it's too corny do you-"

Yang stopped her with a kiss. "I love it," she said putting the bracelet on Blake's wrist and letting her do the same on hers.

They put the dishes in the dishwasher and walked into the bedroom to dress down for the night.

"What do you want to do now?"

"Hmm... Do you want to dance?"

Blake smiled and slipped her arms around Yang's shoulders. "Sure," she whispered into her ear.

Yang flipped on the Bluetooth speaker on the dresser and they slowly swayed to the music, moving in a small circle in the middle of Blake's bedroom.

Yang sighed deeply, leaning into Blake's shoulder. "I love you..."

Blake looked up at Yang from their embrace and lightly trailed her fingertips along her jaw. She tried to express something with her gaze that she couldn't with her words.

Yang could sense her hesitation. Like an angel of kindness, she softly said, "It's okay. You don't have to say it..."

 _No it wasn't okay!_ Blake thought. _Why am I still so afraid to say it?_

Blake closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried to think of all the things Yang meant to her, how she made her feel every time they were together. Slowly, images and feelings began to flow through her mind. Rays of sunshine bursting through a dark cloud. Warmth. A shade of lavender that made her feel inexplicably safe. Yang was the light. She was her light. Of course. Why couldn't she say it earlier?

"I... I love you."

Yang let out a little gasp, clearly surprised to hear the words come from Blake's mouth.

"I love you," Blake whispered again, tears starting to fill her eyes. "I love you." It got easier the more she said it. "I love you. I love you. I love you!" she said, smiling.

"Come here."

Their lips met softly, moving against each other in a way that was as natural as breathing. Blake parted her lips and Yang deepened the kiss, lazily licking into her mouth. Blake tried to pour all the emotion she was feeling into the kiss and Yang responded with the same passion.

"I love you so much," Yang whispered, her words brushing against Blake's lips as she said them. She gently swept her hair off her shoulder and trailed soft little kisses along her neck. Blake shivered and stifled a moan. She looked deeply into Yang's eyes. There was something different in Yang's gaze tonight, it was more intense, more sure. Blake had a feeling that she knew what it was and her heartbeat quickened at the thought.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I love you, with all of my heart... I want to be with you in _every_ way possible," Yang said.

Blake pulled her in for another deep kiss, hands slipping underneath Yang's shirt to lift the garment off. Yang slid her hands over her hips and up to her back where she slowly unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor. They kissed heatedly as they edged closer to the bed.

* * *

Hours later after they had finally caught their breath, Blake lazily stroked Yang's hair as they lay naked in the bed. The sweet scent of their love making still lingered in the air. Blake had kissed every inch of her, completely addicted to the smell and taste of her skin. It took them both by surprise, how the simplest of touches could bring them over the edge so quickly.

"Did it hurt?" Blake asked quietly, remembering the way Yang's breath hitched when she pushed her fingers past a certain point.

Yang smiled softly at her. "A little... But you made it good for me."

Blake smiled back, she felt a profound sense of honour and happiness to be Yang's first. It was something she would treasure always.

Blake inched forward and tenderly kissed her, opening her mouth slightly to let the tips of their tongues touch. Yang groaned softly in response, a sound that spurred Blake on. She kissed along Yang's neck, across her collarbone and down her sternum, tasting a hint of salt with each wet little kiss she left. Blake made her way even lower, hearing Yang gasp as she kissed right below her belly button.

"Blake... What are you...?"

Blake gently pushed her legs apart, settling in between them. "I... I want to watch you come again."

Yang gasped and tangled her fingers in Blake's hair. It was the best birthday yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and a short epilogue left!


	23. Graduation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's end this story off with a bang!

Blake smiled with her eyes closed as she felt Yang, warm and naked, stirring beside her. She was sure that waking up next to Yang was one of the best things she could experience. Yang snuggled in closer to Blake's bare back and ran a finger tip down her arm.

"So there's this dance...."

Blake could feel Yang's moist breath tickling her neck. She rolled over to see serene lilac blinking back at her. Blake smirked and pulled her in closer for a kiss, humming thoughtfully as their lips softly and slowly moved together. Reluctantly, Yang pulled away to take a quick breath.

"I know it's not really your thing, but did you want to go?"

Truthfully, it wasn't Blake's cup of tea but if it made Yang happy....

"Of course, I would love to be your date."

"You will?"

"It's true that it's not really my thing but as long as I'm with you, I'll be fine."

Yang beamed at her, playfully tackling her to the bed and kissing her neck.

"I'm so happy," Yang said in-between Blake's giggles. "Please allow me to show you how grateful I am..."

"Yang!" Blake gasped as Yang's lips reached her pulse point and she started to suck.

* * *

Yang nervously tugged at her satin grad cap as she sat in the back row of chairs in front of the stage at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The square shaped hat barely contained all of her hair and the tassel kept hitting her in the face.

She wished Blake was sitting beside her so she could calm her down but she was near the front row with the other B's. Because her surname started with the letter 'X', she would be the last one to walk across the stage to get her diploma.

Ruby and her dad were sitting in the front row of the stands, Yang turned and waved, giving them a bright smile.

The speeches were quite.... Long. Yang had trouble keeping her eyes open through some parts, even forgetting the name of the valedictorian who just took the stage.

Her senior year had gone by so fast. She supposed that a lot had happened, meeting Blake, drama, family drama.... She was an adult now, and not a virgin anymore thanks to Blake. She chuckled to herself, catching Blake's eye and blowing her a kiss.

Yang whistled and cheered as Blake received her diploma and politely posed for a picture with the principal. When it was finally her turn for the picture, Yang flipped her aviator shades on and did a double peace sign with her arms in the air. _Might as well go out with a bang,_ she thought.

After the ceremony, Yang and Blake posed for group pictures with Pyrrha, Nora and Weiss outside the building. Yang also took a few silly pictures with Sun and Neptune, her trying to look surprised and graceful while the two boys kneeled and looked up at her like she was a Greek goddess. Blake just laughed at their antics.

Finally after all the pictures were taken and the memories captured, Blake and Yang made their way back to Tai, Ruby and Tukson who were waiting for them by the oak tree.

Ruby practically tackled Yang with a big hug. "Congrats Yang!"

"Thanks sis!"

"Congratulations Yang," Tai said as he beamed as his daughter.

"Thanks dad," she said, pulling him into a hug.

Ruby and Tai also exchanged hugs and congratulations with Blake. She was practically part of the family after all. Tukson gave Yang a firm handshake and heartfelt congratulations as well.

"Me and Blake are going to go for a walk at Tom McCall. Meet you guys at the banquet later?"

They nodded and waved them off as they got onto Yang's motorbike and rode away towards the river. Yang and Blake felt a lot more comfortable after they had taken off their gowns and stowed them in the bike's storage compartment. They strolled along the river where they had their first date, happy to have a little alone time before the banquet and dance that night.

Officially graduated. It didn't quite feel real, Blake thought as she leaned into Yang's shoulder. There were times when she felt like high school would never end but here they were, done with this chapter in their life and the future was wide open.

"So, have you thought about what you wanted to do this fall?"

"Yeah, I have some news...."

"You do?"

"I got accepted into Portland University. Do you want to be dormmates?"

"That's great!" Blake said jumping into her arms.

Yang laughed and swung her around, setting her down gently.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Well I'm surprised.... And happy," Blake said, leaning in for a kiss. And another. Before she knew it, Blake had Yang pressed up against the railing, kissing her for all she was worth.

Yang's lips were a little tacky from the lip gloss she was wearing and their lips stuck slightly together as they parted.

Yang's eyes sparkled with delight as she smiled at Blake who was blushing as she tried to catch her breath. "Save some for later," Yang teased.

Blake growled and lightly nipped at her bottom lip. "I'll hold you to it," she whispered in her ear.

* * *

After their walk, they both went home to get ready for the graduation banquet. They dressed up in their gowns, Yang in a sexy white halter dress with a flared skirt and Blake in an elegant dark purple gown with a high slit. The banquet was being held at the school gymnasium. It was beautifully decorated when they arrived, streamers and twinkling lights hung from the rafters.

They were all seated together in one round table and thoroughly enjoyed the catered food. Tukson had to leave for the air base right after dinner because he was flying overseas for an extended mission. Blake walked with him to the exit.

"Well kiddo, you did it," Tukson said, giving Blake an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder.

"Thank you for everything," Blake said. "If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't be here right now."

"Nah I didn't do too much... It was all you. You make sure to treat your girl right, you hear?"

"I will."

She gave him a heartfelt hug.

"See you in a couple of weeks," he said.

"Take care of yourself."

When Blake got back to the gym, the dining tables were being pushed to the side to make room for the dance floor. She smiled at Yang who was talking with Ruby before she was about to leave with her dad.

She looked at Yang's wrist which was adorned with a yellow rose corsage and realized she had left the purple orchid corsage that Yang had gotten her at home. It was expensive. Blake kicked herself for leaving it in the fridge.

"Hey, I'll be back in a bit," Blake said, touching Yang on the arm.

Yang's brows furrowed slightly. "Where are you going?"

"I forgot the corsage you got for me at home. I'm going to go get it."

"It's okay Blake, it's not a big deal."

"It'll just take a couple minutes."

"Okay.... Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"No stay here and have fun. I'll be back soon, I promise," Blake said, grasping Yang by the cheeks and kissing her on the lips.

It just took a couple minutes for Blake to drive back to her house. She turned the key in the lock of the front door but it had no resistance. _That's odd_ , she was sure she had locked it when she left. Blake shrugged it off and went inside, she didn't want to keep Yang waiting for long.

After the door closed, Blake heard a voice that made her blood run cold.

"The security during prison transfers is so lax now, wouldn't you agree?"

Before she could even scream, Adam slapped her hard across the face making her collapse onto the floor. Blake shook off the stars she was seeing and scrambled up to her feet with her fists in front of her.

"What are you doing here, Adam?" _He was supposed to be in prison!_

"Hatred is a powerful motivator. Blake, you didn't really think we were done, did you?"

Blake made a move to run but Adam held a knife to her throat.

"Struggle and I will cut your throat. Do you understand?"

Blake grit her teeth and stared back at him with cold unbridled fury.

"Good."

He tied up her wrists and ankles and left her slumped against wall on the floor. He looked through the blinds furtively.

"Our ride is going to be here soon. Aren't you happy? We're going back home."

"No...." Blake whispered. "No!"

"Just think of it, it's gonna be just like old times." He smiled deviously at her.

"You won't get away this. The police won't stop looking for you, you're a convicted criminal."

"Do I look like I give a shit?"

* * *

At the dance, Yang stood glumly by the punch bowl, nursing a barely-cold flat Pepsi in her plastic cup.

"Where's Blake," Pyrrha asked, noticing her friend's demeanor.

"She went home to get her corsage. It's taking a while though...."

Yang was beginning to get worried. It wasn't like Blake to be late. She should have insisted on going with her. Did she have second thoughts about going to the dance? _No that's stupid_ , Yang thought. She promised.... Something was wrong, she knew it.

Yang briskly walked out of the gym and took off at a full sprint, kicking off her heels, when she got outside. She didn't have Bumblebee with her, getting a ride with her dad earlier and expecting to leave with Blake at the end of the night.

Her lungs burned and her feet felt numb hitting the cold pavement. When she finally got there, she could see Blake tied up against wall with a man standing over her brandishing a knife. Something in Yang snapped and all she could see was red.

She kicked open the door and charged at him. Yang managed to get one good punch on the jaw before Adam retaliated and struck her back in the temple. Yang's vision went blurry as she fell to the ground. He touched his bleeding lip and swore, kicking her viciously in the ribs repeatedly. Yang let out a loud painful groan.

"Stop! Don't hurt her!"

Adam gave her one last kick to her side. She appeared to have passed out.

"Look at this bitch, thought she could play the hero. I should just kill her right now...."

"No, please!"

"You're right, that would be too easy. She should suffer the rest of her life wondering what happened to you. She'll never see you again. Hehe."

Yang slowly opened her eyes, the room was spinning and for a second she didn't know where she was. Her eyes lolled to the side and she saw Blake looking terrified. Blake made eye contact with her and shook her head imperceptibly, begging her to stay down.

Yang heard the man laughing, Adam, that bastard. She pushed herself up and faced him, blood running down her cheek.

"So you want some more, huh?"

He stalked forward and tried to punch her in the face again but she blocked it with her forearm. He scowled and lunged at her with his knife but Yang grabbed a hold of his wrist and twisted it until he dropped it. She kicked away his leg and he fell to floor. Yang kneeled on his chest and landed punch after punch on his face until he finally stopped struggling, his face a bloody mess.

Yang's knuckles were bleeding and every inhale was excruciating. She hobbled over to Blake and untied her, holding her tightly.

"You're okay. You're okay. We're okay," she repeated breathlessly.

Blake turned and sobbed into her neck out of pure elation and relief, tears soaking into the collar of her white dress.

* * *

Blake called the police and they took Adam away in hand cuffs and shackles. She didn't even give him a second look as they shoved him into the police cruiser, spitting on the ground in disgust.

The paramedics bandaged Yang's ribs and patched up the cut under her Yang's eye and her knuckles. They said they needed to bring her to the hospital for an x-ray but Yang refused.

"Please. I just graduated today and there is still an hour left of the dance. I promise I'll go to the hospital right after. Can you let me go please? My dad's a police officer, Taiyang Xiao Long, he'll make sure I'll go, so please?"

Yang shuddered at how she would explain this to her dad. She'd worry about that later.

Blake was surprised that Yang still wanted to go to the dance after everything that happened but she could see how much it meant to her. She joined in with Yang's chorus of pleas.

"Please sir, it's our last night together as high school students." She blushed, preparing to say the next words. "We're in love.... I'll make sure she goes to the hospital to get checked out."

Yang smiled at Blake. 'We're in love' She loved that she was laying it on thick.

The paramedic let out a long exasperated sigh. "This is highly unconventional, but okay."

Yang let out a whoop and hugged Blake tight.

* * *

Bruised, and a little worse for wear, Blake and Yang returned to the dance for the last hour, hand-in-hand, happy and smiling.

They went to the middle of the dance floor and started swaying slowly back and forth. Blake was content just to be in Yang's presence, looking up into her lilac eyes. Yang seemed a little distracted.

"I think you look pretty hot," Blake said.

Yang laughed, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "Yeah right. Real hot with a black eye right now."

"It's true," Blake said, and she kissed her on the cheek to prove it.

Yang gently brushed her fingertips along Blake's jaw and brought their lips together for a real kiss. As they kissed, the opening keyboard cords of a familiar 90's pop song began to play.

_I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy._

_I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need._

"Savage Garden really?" Blake asked.

Yang smiled at her. "It's a classic."

_I love you more with every breath, truly madly deeply do_

Blake looped her arms around Yang's shoulders as they started to slow dance to the song.

"Only you could make me like cheesy pop songs."

_I want to stand with you on a mountain._

_I want to bathe with you in the sea._

"I'll take that as a compliment."

_I want to lay like this forever._

_Until the sky falls down on me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a very short epilogue left.


	24. Short Epilogue

Yang finished packing the last box from her now empty side of bedroom. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips, stretching out her back. So many memories...

"Ready to go?" Blake asked, leaning against the door frame, holding the keys to Tukson's massive SUV parked out front.

Yang nodded and walked out of the apartment with Blake's arm around her waist.

A new beginning. The future wide open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright and that about wraps it up! A big thank you to everyone who gave this story a chance. I am super grateful for all the followers and flattered that some of them were other fanfic authors whose stuff I've read.
> 
> I've been working on this story for about a year and a bit, wow. It was hard at times to keep motivated but I am so glad I was able to finish. As a reader, I know there is nothing worse then a story that's been abandoned, a good story deserves an ending.
> 
> I'll be coming out with another bumbleby story very soon. I have been in AU for so long, it will be great to get back to canon, I'm pretty excited about it. See you readers again soon hopefully!


End file.
